The first half was stellar, and the second half was ugly, but No. 15 Marquette men’s basketball (3-0) managed to earn a 70-62 over the Central Michigan Chippewas (1-2) Monday night at Fiserv Forum.
The Golden Eagles’ devastating defense was on display, balancing scoring fueled their offense and Parham gave fans a glimpse at the future star of their frontcourt before getting injured.
Here are three takeaways from the win:
Golden Eagles’ dominant defense fuels offense
It was a slow start for Marquette, as it was neck-and-neck with Central Michigan at the 10:45 mark of the first half.
Then senior guard Stevie Mitchell stole the ball, which led to a made 3-pointer by first-year forward Royce Parham, and later, another trey netted by senior guard Kam Jones.
Those two 3-pointers kickstarted a 21-0 run that gave Marquette its largest lead of the night at the time (38-17 at the 5:13 mark). During the run, the Golden Eagles went a perfect 8-for-8 from the field and were paced by Jones, who scored 10 points in under three minutes.
At the end of the first frame, the Golden Eagles had earned 13 steals, 44 deflections and 26 points off 16 forced turnovers. Almost every player had earned at least one steal.
“I thought our guys’ energy in the first half during the run we had,” Marquette head coach Shaka Smart said. “That was about as good of a stretch of defensive basketball as we’ve played since I’ve been here.”
Along with a season-high of 19 steals, Marquette also finished with 66 deflections, which marks the most it has garnered in a single game in the Shaka Smart era. The previous record was 56, set this past February in a 105-71 win over DePaul.
Balanced scoring is key
The Golden Eagles’ scoring has been led by Jones these past two games, averaging 28 points per game on 76.7% shooting. But when the Memphis, Tennessee native picked up four fouls and was benched in the second half, the rest of the team stepped up when things got messy.
Mitchell was a key player in the five minutes that Jones was out, scoring nine of his 17 points in the final half. He also went 5-of-7 from the charity stripe and was one of three Golden Eagles who earned three steals.
Smart said he has been impressed with how Mitchell has continued to show up for his team, despite playing through a “nagging injury.”
“He’s special,” Smart said. “Stevie’s one of one… First of all, his toughness that he’s demonstrated has been just phenomenal, his commitment to his team and again, he just has a will that is special.
“I think it’s going to serve him really well in life, that he can just will himself and his team to good things. That was great to see tonight, and we needed every bit of it.”
Juniors Chase Ross and Ben Gold also earned 12 and 10 points in the win, respectively, and made key shots in the final 20 minutes.
“We all know Kam’s our guy on offense, so when he goes out, the mindset changes,” Mitchell said. “We all have to step up (and) be a little more aggressive… But that group has played together multiple times in practice, so we didn’t panic or anything. We knew what each other is capable of, and that’s even when Kam is on the court.”
Marquette will need everyone to show up offensively in its first road test Friday against Maryland, who has four players — Rodney Rice, Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Derik Queen and Julian Reese — who are currently averaging at least 10 points per game or more.
Parham shows potential in victory despite injury
Parham was the Golden Eagle who sparked the 21-0 run in the first half. Just a minute later, he threw down a dunk that had all of Fiserv Forum on its feet after stripping the ball from a Chippewa.
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He finished with a career-high nine points on 3-for-5 shooting, while also earning two steals and two blocks in 13 minutes of action.
“He’s a phenomenal offensive player,” Smart said. “This guy’s going to score a ton of points here. It’s just a matter of him gaining a comfort level with everything we do, and then getting sturdy enough in all the other areas of the game… But make no mistake about it. He’s one of our best offensive players already.”
However, just four minutes into the second half, Parham was checked out of the game due to a lower body cramp, according to Smart. He tried to come back at the 5:13 mark, but could hardly walk and was taken out again 34 seconds later.
This story was written by Kaylynn Wright. She can be reached at kaylynn.wright@marquette.edu or on Twitter/X @KaylynnWrightMU.