Marquette looks to remain perfect under Shaka Smart as it hosts New Hampshire on Friday night in Milwaukee.
The Golden Eagles (1-0) earned an 88-77 win over SIU Edwardsville on Tuesday night in Smart’s Marquette debut behind a game-high 21 points from Maryland transfer Darryl Morsell.
“We needed a spark,” Morsell said. “I just try to get downhill and make plays, and I found success with it early and I just tried to keep going with it.”
Justin Lewis also posted the first double-double of his career, notching 17 points and 11 rebounds, and freshman Stevie Mitchell chipped in 14 points, four rebounds and four assists on 5-of-10 shooting in his first collegiate game.
Greg Elliott will miss Friday’s game against the Wildcats as he continues to serve his four-game, team-issued suspension for an undisclosed policy violation.
Following its 98-53 rout of Saint Joseph’s College of Maine on Tuesday night, New Hampshire (1-0) looks to keep rolling and win back-to-back games to open up the season for the third time since 2016.
Seven players scored in double figures in the season opener, with Jayden Martinez pacing the Wildcats with 20 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 9-for-15 from the field. Nick Guadarrama contributed 13 points, Blondeau Tchoukuiegno had 12 and Nick Johnson, who was the America East Rookie of the Year last season, finished with 10.
“We’ve been hammering away defensively pretty hard, hammering away on our rebounding,” UNH coach Bill Herrion said during the team’s media day on Oct. 21. “I also think what we’ve got with returning players and some of our newcomers, this could be one of our better perimeter-shooting teams that we’ve had.”
Rebounding proved to be critical in the win over the Monks, as the Wildcats won the rebounding battle 45-31. However, they did struggle from 3-point range, converting on just three of their 16 attempts from deep.
The Wildcats and Golden Eagles only have one prior meeting, and Marquette came away with a 58-53 win on Nov. 21, 2013.
–Field Level Media
