You wouldn't expect a Marquette men's basketball game at the Al McGuire Center to follow a normal script.

The Golden Eagles, ranked 17th in the USA TODAY poll and No. 18 by the Associated Press, played George Mason at their on-campus, 3,700-seat arena on Friday night in front of a crowd of mostly students. The environment was predictably raucous, but the game was wild as well.

MU earned an 82-63 victory, but it was an up-and-down affair that included a fracas in the final minute.

BOX SCORE: Marquette 82, George Mason 63

"It was nothing short of what I thought it would be," MU senior guard Kam Jones said. "We knew the fans was going to come with a bunch of energy.

"Seeing them sprint in there an hour before the game start just showed how our fans feel about our team. They want to win, too. They want to be part of a winning program. We are very appreciative of our fans."

Kam Jones an efficient scoring machine

Jones has shown why he is the most important player to the Golden Eagles (2-0). He had 24 points on 9-for-14 shooting and eight assists with only one turnover.

In MU's two games, Jones is 16 for 18 on two-pointers and 7 of 12 on three-pointers. He's also throwing pinpoint passes all over the court.

"I'm just out there with a mentality of making the right play," Jones said. "Whatever that means.

"If that means me scoring, fine. If that means me passing. If that means I'm in the corner with the correct spacing. Whatever it is, that's what I'm trying to do every possession on both ends. Make the correct play, be there for my teammates."

David Joplin and Chase Ross help Marquette pull away

The Golden Eagles came out hot with the fans roaring, opening with a 13-0 run.

The Patriots (1-1) methodically chipped away at the lead and went into the locker room with a 37-36 advantage.

Jones was the only MU player shooting effectively. He shot 4 for 6 in the first half, but the other Golden Eagles went 5 of 26.

George Mason took a 41-36 lead early in the second half after MU didn't hit a field goal for an 8-minute, 18-second drought that bridged halftime.

MU's David Joplin then drilled a three-pointer to tie the game at 41-41. Then Chase Ross gave the Golden Eagles the lead with a steal and then a vicious, one-handed dunk that ignited the crowd.

MU pulled away down the stretch, including a 16-0 run that ended when George Mason scored in the final seconds.

"I liked their poise," MU head coach Shaka Smart said about his team's final 15 minutes. "When Caedin (Hamilton) checked in, we put him in early in the half. The physicality he brought, the intentionality he brought.

"The reality is, from a standpoint of game minutes, the younger half of our rotation is very, very young. Tre (Norman), Zaide (Lowery), Royce (Parham), Caedin, Damarius (Owens) when he gets healthy. So we got to grow those guys up quickly.

"That's part of doing things the way we do things is putting up a level of investment. Intentionality with their growth in every second of every day. And knowing that on Nov. 8 you are not going to be anywhere near where you want to be at the end of the year. These are valuable, valuable experiences, these games. You just can't replicate them."

Joplin, a senior forward from Brookfield Central High School, has been around long enough that he scored 23 points in the last game MU played at the Al McGuire Center in the 2022-23 season.

He got going in the second half and finished with 27 points, including 19 points and 10 rebounds in the second half.

"That's just who we are," Jones said. "We keep responding. We keep playing. We got good players in here.

"If we stay about the right stuff and we stay about each other, naturally the ball just started dropping more. When we missed shots and we get a little frantic and we get little tip-toey and get a little scared, that's when things start to go downhill. That's not for us, that's for every team.

"We just got to stick with it, do what you do. Eventually at some point, the basketball gods up there will give some love on you."

Ben Gold has some moments in second half

MU junior center Ben Gold missed all five of his three-point attempts in the opener against Stony Brook.

He drilled his first one against George Mason, but then missed his next five.

Gold made nice plays on the defensive end, including four blocks, but what must have felt good was nailing the dagger triple that gave MU a 74-61 lead with just over two minutes left.

"If he shoots enough threes the right way, he's going to shoot 40%, 38% over the course of the season," Smart said. "He's always been up and down like most shooters are.

"But our focus with him has been get the right shots, take them. Be ready to shoot. And then put all the rest of your focus on the other 98% of the game. All the controllable things where you can help your team.

"I thought he was at his best in these last couple games he's done that."

George Mason's Woody Newton makes 'dirty play' and draws response from Marquette's Kam Jones and Chase Ross

Gold was involved in a fracas in the final minute.

He took a pass from Jones on a fast break and was fouled by George Mason's Darius Maddox. Then the Patriots' Woody Newton came down hard on Gold and knocked him to the floor.

Both Jones and Ross took exception to the foul and there was a lot of pushing and shoving.

Newton also had a flagrant foul on Joplin in the first half.

"I went up to him and was basically 'Chill out with that,' " Jones said. "That was pretty much my whole message.

"He wasn't going for the ball at all. But you live and you learn. Coach Smart was pretty upset with me, as he should be. I got to show some more poise as a senior guard on the team."

Smart was upset at the whole situation.

"There were two dirty plays, OK?" Smart said. "There was a dirty play on Jop's layup in the first half.

"Then there was a dirty play on Ben in the second half. Maybe from their perspective, they were just hard fouls. But what I told Kam was 'You're not going to fight the guy.' It's just not what you're going to do.

"So you can either run up on him and act tough for a little bit and then not fight him. Or you can go run to your teammate who just got clobbered and go help him up and support him and make sure he is OK. And help your other teammates focus on what's next. So which of those is a better plan for winning the next possession?"

A few MU bench players took a few steps on the court, but no punches appeared to be thrown so it is uncertain if there will be any suspensions for future games.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: David Joplin and Kam Jones helpd Marquette beat George Mason on campus