Shaka Smart’s opening statement after loss to Villanova
Shaka Smart’s opening statement after loss to Villanova
PHILADELPHIA − It’s clear that the Marquette men’s basketball team isn’t the same one that was turning people’s heads and climbing to the top five of the Associated Press poll early in December.
Shaka Smart knows that, too, and the MU head coach didn’t shy away from criticism after his team’s 81-66 loss to Villanova on Friday night at Wells Fargo Center.
The Golden Eagles (20-7, 11-5 Big East) are still ranked 16th in the Associated Press top 25 and 15th in the USA TODAY coaches poll, but their only victories in six games this month have come against DePaul and Seton Hall, the two teams anchored at the bottom of the conference standings.
BOX SCORE: Villanova 81, Marquette 66
“I don’t think that, as a group, we haven’t had enough true connectivity around what exactly we have to do in the moment,” Smart said. “You can fill in the blank for that, there’s offensive things, there are defensive things. A desperation, if you will.
“It’s February, late February, I’m sure there’s a level of fatigue there. But everybody deals with that. Villanova’s dealing with that. Other teams are dealing with that. We have to understand that it starts with having an extreme hunger as a group.
“Our guys, their relationships with each other, with our staff, are phenomenal. But make no mistake about it, those relationships are in place to drive performance. And we’re not doing a good enough job of that right now.”
Jhamir Brickus and Eric Dixon lead Villanova’s offensive explosion
The Wildcats (16-12, 9-8) took it to MU from the start.
Eric Dixon nailed a three-pointer on Villanova’s first possession, and that set the tone for an unconscious first-half shooting display.
The Wildcats raced to a 17-4 lead, then finished with a scorching 12-for-15 three-point performance in the opening 20 minutes. Jhamir Bruckus hit his first 5 three-pointers for the Wildcats to lead the barrage.
“In the opening minutes I saw Nova’s starting lineup significantly outplay our starting lineup,” Smart said. “That’s what I saw.
“I thought we were better to start the second half defensively. They made … I believe their first basket of the second half was a tough one late-clock. Good teams are going to do that, but to start the first half, it was not enough of a level of force on both ends of the floor from us.
“And Nova took advantage of that. They really moved the ball well. They know we trap the post, they did a good job passing out of it. Our hands were nowhere near good enough. They made the shots, they deserve credit for that. Because it’s one thing to creat shots, it’s another to make it.”
Dixon and Brickus combined for 44 points, and Jordann Dumont came off the bench to score 15 after coming into the game with just 14 on the season.
“We have a lot of things we need to figure out as a group if we want to be at our best in the month of March, which is not too far away,” Smart said. “But obviously, in the short term, we’ve got a lot of getting better to do between now and our next game.”
MU’s defense has been one of the best in college basketball this season at forcing turnovers, but the Golden Eagles finished with just two steals.
“Not good enough,” Smart said. “It’s not good enough. You have to have great hands, active hands.
“Villanova has always been a good passing team. It’s always a dilemma, what you do with their post-ups since I’ve been at Marquette. Because they’ve got a lot of different guys that can post up and score. Obviously namely Dixon right now, but also their guards. Then they’ve got a lot of guys that can shoot.”
Shaka Smart benches David Joplin, Stevie Mitchell and Ben Gold
MU looked like it could get back in the game when the Wildcats missed their first triple of the second half and Chase Ross converted a three-point play.
But the Golden Eagles could never get within single digits, and Villanova’s largest lead came at 66-43 with 10:58 remaining.
Smart benched upperclassmen David Joplin, Stevie Mitchell and Ben Gold early in the second half. That trio shot 4 for 15 and combined for three rebounds.
“Fill in the blank … passion, effort, violence, hunger,” Smart said when asked what he more he needed to see from those players. “And the other guys were playing better.”
Zaide Lowery continues stellar play for MU
One of the few positives for MU was sophomore wing Zaide Lowery continuing his run of improved play.
He finished with a career-high 25 points, knocking down all five of his three-point attempts, and pulled down eight rebounds.
“Just going in there and playing hard,” Lowery said. “Talking and having conversations with my teammates about just playing freely.
“I kind of started off rough at the beginning of the year on offense. The last couple games that we’ve had, I’ve just been aggressive. Trying to assert myself for the team.”
Only Ross (11 points) and Kam Jones (10) also scored in double figures for the Eagles. That left Smart searching for answers.
“We talk about us versus us,” Smart said. “Villanova absolutely deserves incredible credit, they played great.
“But Marquette did not play well enough, up to the standards of Marquette. And that starts with the level of violence in which we play. Which I think is preceded by extreme hunger.
“I’m going to have to do a better job figuring out a five-man group that we can put on the floor at crucial moments, where everyone has that level of hunger.”
Guards: Kam Jones, Stevie Mitchell, Chase Ross
Forwards: Ben Gold, David Joplin
Guards: Wooga Poplar, Jordan Longino, Jhamir Brickus
Forwards: Eric Dixon, Enoch Boakye
Odds courtesy of BetMGM as of Friday
- ODDS: Marquette by 1.5
- O/U: 142.5
The Wildcats’ NCAA Tournament hopes have faded considerably, so it will be interesting to see if they play with desperation against Marquette. The Golden Eagles had some success guarding Eric Dixon, the nation’s leading scorer, in the first matchup. They will need to do that again, and also exploit Villanov’s porous defense.
Prediction: Marquette 75, Villanova 68
- TV: FS1
- Stream: You can stream the game on the Fox Sports app through your television carrier. Also, FUBO has a free trial for new subscribers.
- Announcers: Alex Faust (play-by-play) and Donny Marshall (analyst) will call the game.
∎ Feb. 25: Providence, 6 p.m.
∎ March 1: at Georgetown, 7 p.m.
∎ March 5: at UConn, 7:30 p.m.
∎ March 8: St. John’s, TBA
