The Golden Eagles post a come-from-behind victory in the 2024-25 season opener as they romp in the second half.
Sometimes it’s the fine detail stats that tell you a terrific story of what happened in a basketball game. I think Marquette’s season opener against Stony Brook is one of those times.
Lead Changes: 10
Times Tied (after 0-0): 4
Final Margin: Marquette by 40
Yes, that’s right, thanks to a 30-11 run to close the first half and a 13-0 run in the second half, YOUR Marquette men’s basketball team shuffled Stony Brook right out of Fiserv Forum and back to Long Island as they beat the Seawolves 102-62. Marquette is 1-0 on the season, and head coach Shaka Smart remains perfect in openers as MU’s top man.
The first nine minutes and change of this one was actually competitive. A CJ Luster jumper with 10:53 to go in the first half put the visiting Seawolves out in front, 19-18. Marquette wasn’t necessarily playing poorly to start things off, and preseason All-CAA honoree Joe Octave opening up the game a perfect 3-for-3 from downtown did not help the Golden Eagles out all that much.
And then a Kam Jones three-pointer, one of four on the night on his way to a 32 point performance, lit a fire under the Golden Eagles. That jumped off a 10-3 run punctuated by Royce Parham getting a steal right into a runout dunk for himself. All of a sudden, in just under three minutes, Marquette had ripped off a 13-3 run and jumped out to a nine point lead.
If it wasn’t clear that the Golden Eagles had grabbed control of things, that 13-3 run turned into 22-5 and a 16 point lead with 4:41 left to go before intermission. The lead eventually landed at 18 at halftime, 48-30, as Kam Jones buried a corner three at the horn while falling out of bounds.
A 10-1 run early in the second half left Marquette up 26, but the final nail in the coffin came through just past the midway point of the second period. After SBU’s Collin O’Connor tallied to make it 71-47 with 11:48 to play, MU stepped on the gas. Or, specifically, Kam Jones did. He had seven of Marquette’s 13 points in an unanswered run that made it an 84-47 game and really removed whatever tiny doubt about the final result remained. Still though, Marquette didn’t hit their biggest margin of the game until Zaide Lowery canned a three-pointer with 2:08 to go. Not only did that push Marquette to the century mark, but it moved the margin to 42 points at 100-58.
Kam Jones was incredibly filthy in this game, connecting on 14 of his 16 field goal attempts and that includes going a perfect 10-for-10 inside the arc. That gave him a career best 32 points, and he added a rebound and three assists, too. Chase Ross also went for a career high, as his 23 point night gave him his first career 20+ point game. Ross also led the team in rebounds with eight. Stevie Mitchell ended up with a very well balanced stat line of nine points, six rebounds, six assists, four steals, and not a single one of Marquette’s seven turnovers in the game.
Oh, and Joe Octave, who hit those early threes for Stony Brook to keep things interesting? 1-for-8 the rest of the way.
How about some highlights, courtesy of GoMarquette.com and Fox Sports?
Up Next: If you’ve been paying attention, you’ve already subscribed to Peacock. On Friday, Marquette men’s basketball will return to the Al McGuire Center for a game that is 1) Students Only and 2) televised exclusively on Peacock. It will be George Mason coming to town for that one, and the Patriots started their season with a 75-58 home win over North Carolina Central on Monday.