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David Joplin's dead-eye shooting helps Marquette cruise past DePaul
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- David Joplin's dead-eye shooting helps Marquette cruise past DePaul
CHICAGO – David Joplin loves playing at Wintrust Arena.
He hit 8 three-pointers in the building last season, and on Wednesday night he added six triples, scoring 21 points as the 14th-ranked Marquette men's basketball team cruised to an 86-73 victory over DePaul .
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Box score: Marquette 86, DePaul 73
Head coach Shaka Smart has a theory on why Joplin likes it so much.
"He obviously feels good about this hotel that we stay in across the street," Smart said.
Joplin was on a similar wavelength.
"Great stay, great hospitality, maybe that's it, I don't know," the former Brookfield Central standout said. "I do seem to have a good performance every time I come here."
Marquette's David Joplin (23) goes up for a shot against DePaul's Da' Sean Nelson (21) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024, in Chicago. Marquette won 86-73. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
Golden Eagles get going from three-point range
Smart ran the first play of the game to get Joplin a three-pointer, and Joplin drilled it off a nice feed from Tyler Kolek .
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"We've been talking about trying to get me in a good state of mind," Joplin said. "Start me off the game aggressive and try to have us feed off that."
It worked. MU, which has struggled shooting the ball in Big East play, finished 15 for 33 (45.5%) on three-pointers.
That was the highest percentage for the Golden Eagles (14-5, 5-3 Big East) since knocking down 14 of 30 (46.7%) against Texas on Dec. 6.
Backup big man Ben Gold missed his first two attempts from beyond the arc, extending his drought to 0 for 14. But then he took after his teammates and drilled 3 threes as MU pulled away from the Blue Demons (3-16, 0-8).
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"Kind of take what the other team is giving you," Smart said. "They played some zone early in the game. The guys did a good job of finding each other. We got a lot of good looks up.
"But we made 15 without Kam (Jones) really getting going, which he's our best three-point shooter. It was nice to see Ben get a lot of good looks up and make three of them. I think that was by far the most minutes he's played in his career, so I was excited about him getting extended minutes."
Marquette's Oso Ighodaro goes up for a shot against DePaul's Elijah Fisher on Wednesday night. Ighodaro finished with 19 points.
Oso Ighodaro flirts with a triple-double
Oso Ighodaro has been playing like a first-team all-Big East player. He flirted with a triple-double against DePaul with 19 points, 12 rebounds and six assists.
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The 6-foot-11 Ighodaro is doing everything for MU. With backup point guard Sean Jones out for the season , he is bringing the ball up the floor more and initiating offense.
"His impact on our offense is hard to quantify," Smart said. "Because he does so much that's connective tissue as opposed to statistical.
"But I'm telling you, the biggest thing that he brought today, along with Tyler Kolek, was competitive intensity. Because every game is not going to be at Madison Square Garden on big Fox against Rick Pitino. And so those two guys have an understanding that regardless of circumstances, we have a standard. Offensive, defensively and culturally, most importantly. And I thought they really led the way with that."
Ighodaro's teammates know what the big man brings to the table.
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"Everything," Joplin said. "He brings everything. I think he's the best player in the country at his position, and he just has so many ways to affect the game.
"He plays the whole game. He plays hard. He sprints the floor. He plays defense. I think he's unguardable. We always have confidence him and try to run offense through him because when we do that, good things happen."
Kolek continued to show he has broken out of his funk during MU's two-game losing streak earlier this month. He had 22 points and seven assists.
DePaul playing with interim head coach
The Blue Demons were playing under the direction of interim head coach Matt Brady after Tony Stubblefield was fired on Monday.
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"It's something where you don't know exactly what a team's going to do," Smart said. "I think it gives you an opportunity to double down on yourself.
"I've coached against Matt Brady before when he was at James Madison . He does a heck of a job. He did then and he will now with this group. We just wanted to focus on ourselves and not get caught up in guessing what they might do differently."
DePaul showed some resolve, getting the halftime deficit to 48-38 after MU took a 19-point lead.
Jalen Terry (22 points) and Jeremiah Oden (19) nailed some shots in the second half to keep DePaul hanging around.
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But when MU is making three-pointers, its offense can be overwhelming.
"It as a choppy game at times for us," Smart said. "I thought when we played fast, it was really good for us.
"DePaul really did a great job making shots. They hit some tough shots when we had a good contest. Terry, Oden. But I thought Tyler and Oso did a heck of a job leading. Their competitive intensity for 40 minutes was the difference for us."
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Marquette beats DePaul 86-73 at Wintrust Arena
