Marquette 95, Rider 65: Eagles roll but All-American Tyler Kolek leaves game with injury

ben steele, milwaukee journal sentinel

Sat, Nov 11, 2023, 6:26 AM·5 min read

The real tests are about to begin for the Marquette men’s basketball team.

But first the Golden Eagles will closely monitor their preseason All-American point guard.

The fifth-ranked Golden Eagles had no issues dispatching Rider, 95-65, on Friday night at Fiserv Forum. But the romp was clouded when Tyler Kolek limped off the court after rolling his ankle with just over eight minutes remaining.

BOX SCORE: Marquette 95, Rider 65

"He stepped on someone's foot," MU head coach Shaka Smart said. "The status update from him is 'I'll be fine.'

"But he did turn his ankle. Right away, he subbed himself out. We'll see how it responds. He'll get treatment. Knowing Tyler, he's a guy that he'll find a way to be on the floor when he needs to be on the floor. But we'll see how his ankle responds over the next couple days."

The schedule gets considerably harder for MU after two easy victories to start the season. The Golden Eagles play at 25th-ranked Illinois on Tuesday and then will head to Hawaii for the absolutely loaded Maui Invitational, where MU will play UCLA in the opening round.

Marquette's Kam Jones scores a game-high 23 points against Rider on Friday night.

Kam Jones continues hot start to season

MU guard Kam Jones has been in a groove to start the season. After dropping 20 points in the opener against Northern Illinois, the 6-foot-5 guard had 23 on 8-for-16 shooting against the Broncs (1-1).

"On the offensive end particularly, I'm just taking my time," Jones said. "Taking the shots I want. Not really forcing it. That can lead to a lot of misses. Just taking what the defense is giving me. It makes the game simple."

Jones is 8 for 16 on three-pointers over the first two games. He's shot is noticeable flatter than the high-arcing shots from deep he was attempting last season.

"It was a little tweak, for sure," Jones said. "That I made over the off-season with my coaches and myself.

"It comes with just a lot more trusting yourself. That's really what it comes down to at the end of the day. Either you're going to shoot it in or you're not. So I feel like you might as well shoot it in with the most confidence you can."

Chase Ross is sixth man extraordinaire

David Joplin, who scored all 11 of his points in the first half on Friday, was the Big East's sixth man of the year last season.

Now that Joplin is in the starting lineup, sophomore guard Chase Ross will be a strong candidate for that award this season.

Ross had a career-high 12 points on Monday and nearly matched that with 11 against Rider.

"He's been great," Jones said. "Both ends. He does what we ask him as a team."

That included two highlight blocks, including one where he used his impressive leaping ability to block a three-point attempt in the corner.

"Chase is capable of even more," Smart said. "I mean, I'm not disappointed. I'm happy. I love Chase.

"And Chase is guy that you could really play him 40 minutes a game. Because he's like a security blanket for your team, having him out there on the floor. But I think he has more in him. I think he has more. I think he has another level of dog. I think he has another level of communication."

Shaka Smart likes the way that Marquette shares ball

The ball was humming around for the Golden Eagles. They finished with 23 assists on their 34 field goals.

"I thought in the second half there was two or three shots that weren't exactly how we would draw it up," Smart said. "But that's pretty good for a 40-minute game.

"And I thought our guys shared the ball. Listen, when you're leaders are Oso Ighodaro and Tyler Kolek and the way they pass, it's contagious. We talk a lot about EGBs. The No. 1 EGB is passing. And the No. 1 EZB - energy zapping behavior - is not passing when you should pass."

Jones broke down that sharing mentality in a different way.

"It comes from just the genuine relationships we have," he said. "We say relationships, but it doesn't mean anything if you don't have them.

"Words don't really mean anything. We speak those relationships because we do have them. That translates to the court. I'm going to hit Chase because I love him. It's not any selfish acts."

First road game up next at Illinois on Tuesday

MU knew that its non-conference schedule was going to be challenging. Now comes the first test.

"We're going to play a lot of teams that are not only NCAA Tournament-caliber teams but teams that have a chance to advance to the second weekend or further," Smart said. "But, you know what, you only got to play one game at a time.

"And so our focus going into today was all about Rider. I guess a less mature, less respectful group could have looked past this game tonight and looked to Tuesday. Our guys did not do that.

"Now that this one is over we can shift our attention to going on the road to Illinois. And that's where a thousand percent of our focus will go. The schedule beyond that is tough but we're really not focused on that right now."