Marquette looks to remain unbeaten at home Tuesday night when it hosts Jackson State in Milwaukee.
The Golden Eagles are 4-0 and have shot 44.3 percent on their home floor so far this season. They have averaged 77.5 points in those games and are holding opponents to an average of 69.8.
After making it to the championship game of the Charleston Classic last week, Marquette (6-1) returned home and is coming off an 80-66 win over Northern Illinois. Justin Lewis paced the Golden Eagles with 15 points and six rebounds and has now scored in double figures in every game this season. Reserve Stevie Mitchell posted 11 points, and Darryl Morsell and Tyler Kolek each had 10.
The bench combined for 35 points in the win over NIU, and Mitchell said coach Shaka Smart was hoping it would provide that sort of spark.
“He wanted us to go in and try to help pick the energy up,” Mitchell said. “We just went in, played hard, played together and obviously coach Smart knows what he’s talking about, so we just tried to play with energy because that’s what he told us to do.”
Jackson State (1-5) beat Louisiana Lafayette 75-70 on Saturday night. Gabe Watson led all scorers with 22 points on 6-of-20 shooting. Jayveous McKinnis had 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Jonas James III accounted for 11 points, three rebounds and three assists.
“I thought our kids, all 13 of them, played their roles and really fought to get the win,” head coach Wayne Brent said. “It was a total team effort from the coaches and players.”
The win snapped a five-game losing streak for the Tigers, who shot under 40 percent from the field in three of the five losses. Despite the lackluster field goal percentages, Jackson State has shown flashes of efficient 3-point shooting, as it went 9-for-20 (45 percent) from distance against Marshall on Nov. 21 and 7-for-16 (43.8 percent) against Illinois on Nov. 9.
Watson’s play has also been a bright spot as of late, as the 6-foot-2 guard has scored at least 14 points in each of his last three games.
–Field Level Media
