Shaka Smart wants 32 deflections and eight kills per game. They got both on Tuesday night at Fiserv, and they won. Simple as that.
You’ve heard Marquette men’s basketball head coach Shaka Smart talk about his goals for 32 deflections per game and eight kills — stretches of three stops in a row — per game over and over again since he was hired. If you want a proof as to why he believes in the value of those things when it comes to winning a basketball game, look no further than Marquette’s 74-66 come from behind victory over Georgetown.
Why? Because Marquette spent a whole bunch of Tuesday night — essentially the entire first half, if we’re being honest — looking like they had had no business beating the Hoyas. Things started out just fine, in fact, Marquette was just short of doubling Georgetown up in the first seven minutes at 15-8 thanks to their first two kills of the night. Then a bit of zone defense from the Hoyas slowed Marquette down as the Golden Eagles probed around to figure out how the zone worked and they started coming up empty over and over and over…. all the way to the point of a 23-3 Georgetown run.
That’s bad.
31-18 GU on a jumper from Malik Mack with 6:09 left in the first half, two of his 10 first half points on the way to leading the Hoyas with 18. With 4:49 left in the first half, Jordan Burks secured a Micah Peavy miss and sent it back up and in for a 35-21 Georgetown lead. Biggest lead of the game for the visitors, and that’s 27-6 in their favor in just over seven minutes of game time.
43 seconds later, Peavy fouled Stevie Mitchell as MU’s noted defensive pest stole the ball from him, and that allowed Marquette to close the half on an upswing. Is outscoring the Hoyas 8-3 in the final four minutes a lot? No, it’s not, and if David Joplin had cashed his and-1 on a three-pointer with 40 seconds left, it would have been 9-3….. which is still not a lot.
But that meant the margin was single digits, 38-29, with 20 minutes left to play, and MU had picked up another kill. Workable, and definitely better than 14 points.
Quietly, MU did end the first half with two straight stops of the Hoyas, and they started off the second with four more. That’s a skunk, and that’s five of Marquette’s eight kills right there. That skunk powered a 13-2 Marquette run, and would you look at that: 40-39 Georgetown with 15:50 to go thanks to a Chase Ross three-pointer on his way to a new career high of 27 points.
Kill #6 came as the clock wound towards the 10 minute mark. MU had already officially wiped out the 14 point lead when they tied it at 42, and the lead returned to the Golden Eagles at 45-42. The kill allowed MU to go up 51-48, but as the Hoyas strung together a few possessions with scores, it was Marquette who had to tie the game at 58 on a Ross layup with 7:36 to go. A few seconds later, we got the under-8 media timeout… and Marquette had 32 deflections. Goal #1 achieved, and with the game tied, it certainly felt like if Marquette got their final two kills, they would win.
Kill #7 came as neither team could do anything to change the score, but it was Ben Gold breaking the 58-all tie with an and-1 dunk…. that he couldn’t actually finish off from the free throw line. But it’s 60-58 Marquette, and Georgetown is chasing the Golden Eagles now. Tied at 60. Hoyas up 63-62. Tied at 64.
and then
with 1:47 left
Kam Jones in the lane found Stevie Mitchell cutting to the rack
Marquette up two
Mitchell rebound
Chase Ross steal
Drew Fielder offensive foul
That’s Kill #8.
David Joplin hit two free throws after a Caleb Williams foul to extend the game, Marquette up 70-64. GU head coach Ed Cooley played a little bit of fouly-extendy, but MU hit their freebies, and that was that.
Georgetown lost the final 24:49 of this game by a score of 53-31. Once Marquette said “hey, this stinks, let’s stop losing this game,” it was curtains for the Hoyas.
Chase Ross shot 7-for-12 from the field to get his 27 points, and he added a game high six steals as well. Stevie Mitchell (13 points), David Joplin (12), and Kam Jones (11) joined him in double digit town. Joplin led MU with seven rebounds, Jones topped the assists column with five, and Ben Gold had two points — yes, just that pivotal dunk — five rebounds, four steals, and four blocks.
How about some highlights, courtesy of GoMarquette.com and CBS Sports?
Up Next: A week off! Marquette won’t return to action until next week Tuesday when they hit the road for the first time in 2025. That one will be down in Chicago against DePaul, and CBS Sports Network will have the 6pm Central time tipoff. The Blue Demons are 0-4 in Big East play and will have to visit Seton Hall on Wednesday and host Xavier on Saturday before MU comes to town.