Here's my breakdown of the Marquette team. Their 5 starters have been the same every game, 3 are 4-year seniors and 2 are 3-year Juniors - all have only played for Marq - no transfers. It's a TON of experience in Shaka's system. And they all have improved their numbers in basically every category over last year.
They basically returned the entire team from last year, except PG Tyler Kolek who was drafted by the Knicks.
PG: #1 Kam Jones, Sr, 6-4" 185# - definitely the star that makes the team go. Scoring went from 15 as a soph to 17 last year to 19.6 so far this year. Has been much more of a distributor stepping into the nominal PG role with Kolek gone, his assists went from 2.4 last year to 6.4 this year. Never turns the ball over, only 12 on the season. He has the reputation of an outside shooter, but while he's up to 4% from deep this year, he hasn't been taking a ton, almost half as many as last year. But he's been absolutely unstoppable inside the arc - shooting over 75% on 2pt shots this year. He doesn't get to the line a ton (the team doesn't either), and isn't a great FT shooter at only around 70%. I've read people excited over the Keshon-Kam matchup, but I think Tamin could get a shot at containing him as well.
SG: #4 Stevie Mitchell, Sr, 6-2" 190# - probably their best perimeter defender, at least statistically, he's at 2.8 steals / game this year (better than Tamin). He averages 12 ppg and is shooting 54% from 3, but on very low attempts. Does most of his damage from the paint and the line, where he takes the most FTs on the team and is shooting 79% on the year.
SF: #2 Chase Ross, Jr, 6-4" 195# - Not really a SF, they definitely play 3 guards a lot. This is a game I could see Milan playing a lot of '4'. Ross was a bench player last year and has a big jump this year, going from 6ppg to almost 12. He's also averaging 2.8 steals a game so far. He's shooting 48% from 3, but again on pretty low volume. He's not a great FT shooter at 66%. He's second on the team in assists with almost 3 a game, so he's likely the secondary ball handler behind Jones.
PF: #23 David Joplin, Sr, 6'7" 215# - He's their inside force/muscle, but definitely undersized compared to Jefferson/Jackson. Leds them in rebounding at 6 per game and second in scoring at 16ppg. He also has taken by far the most 3s on the team, but only making 33%. He takes almost twice as many 3s and 2s on the season. He's also second on the team in FT attempts and making 86%.
C: #12 Ben Gold, Jr, 6'11" 220# - Skinny big man from New Zealand who takes 80% of his shots from 3, but is only making 31% of them. Not a big rebounder, but can pass the ball and doesn't turn it over much.
it's striking how much Marquette plays "inside out", where their bigs average shooting 14 3s and less than 6 2s per game, and the 3 starting guards take over 20 2s and about 8 3s per game. That will be a big challenge for Jackson, especially, and it's probably a game we don't see a ton of Chatfield.
Marquette's bench is nothing much to speak of - it's really young and all listed as "forwards" (6'5" or taller). They've collectively shot < 20% from 3s on the season and only scored 6 pts in their win over Purdue. The bench player with the most minutes (#7 Zaide Lowery) is out this game, per Chris and Brett's pod. The other main bench player is 6'8" freshman #13 Royce Parham, who has also taken almost twice as many 3s and 2s, but only made 6-28. He and another first year player, 6'9" Caedin Hamilton, are their most active offensive rebounders.
Unless there's foul trouble, their starters will likely all play 32-36+ minutes, except maybe Gold.
One thing that stood out to me was that Marquette has made at least 8 3s in all games this year, and has not given up more than 8 3s in any game. Their opponents are shooting right at 30% on the season. Purdue went 6-18 from 3 in their game, and turned the ball over 13 times to Marquette's 6. Kam Jones had a triple-double in that game 17-13-10.
They are susceptible to bigs in the paint - I think we'll see a focus early at pounding the ball into Jefferson/Jackson.
Neither team fouls a ton, but we've been good at getting to the line this year - specifically Keshon driving. How the game is called will make a huge impact, as we are much deeper and can absorb more fouls. I hate a close called game, but it would definitely be to our advantage.
