#MUBB Hosts Notre Dame Saturday at 8 p.m. CT

The No. 8/7 Marquette University men's basketball team (7-2, 0-0 BIG EAST) continues its three-game homestand on Saturday, Dec. 8 at 8 p.m. CT when the team hosts Notre Dame (4-4, 0-0 ACC) at Fiserv Forum. FOX features the television coverage, with Brandon Gaudin (play-by-play) and LaPhonso Ellis (analyst) calling the action. Following Saturday's outing, the Golden Eagles will wrap up their homestand and non-conference play on Thurday, Dec. 14 against St. Thomas at 7 p.m. CT.

Series With Notre Dame Spans Over 100 Years

Saturday will mark the 120th all-time meeting in a series that dates back to the 1919-20 campaign. A majority of the contests came when both programs were independents, but the rivalry was renewed in 2005-06 when Marquette joined Notre Dame in the BIG EAST (UND left after 2012-13 campaign).

The two teams resumed the series in 2022-23 to open a home-and-home series and the Golden Eagles were able to secure a 79-64 win on Dec. 11, 2023 in South Bend. Guard Kam Jones led four players in double figures with 25 points and forward Oso Ighodaro chipped in 16 points and 18 rebounds.

Marquette has only faced DePaul (133) and Wisconsin (130) more times than Notre Dame.

Marquette Picks Up Another Ranked Win

Four of Marquette's nine games this season have come against ranked opponents and a fifth team, Wisconsin, moved into the top-25 after defeating the Golden Eagles.

MU downed No. 12/16 Texas, 86-65, Wednesday night and is now 3-1 this season versus top-25 opponents and 16-9 overall (8-3 vs. top-12 squads) under head coach Shaka Smart.

The victory over Texas was Marquette's fifth 20-point victory in program history over a team ranked in the top-12 of the AP Poll. The last 20-point win over a ranked team was a 96-70 win over then-No. 6 Baylor in last year's BIG EAST-Big 12 Battle.

Kolek Leads Offense To Strong Finish vs. Texas

Marquette's offensive attack got off to a slow start in the win over Texas, but guard Tyler Kolek sparked a strong finish in the 86-65 victory.

The Golden Eagles opened the game just 1-of-9 from long distance and shot just 38.1 percent from the floor overall in the first half. Fortunately, MU found its touch and shot 66.7 percent (16-of-24) from the floor following intermission and knocked down 13 of its last 21 trey attempts.

Marquette finished the game with a season-best 14 3-pointers and Kolek netted a season-high 28 points on 11-of-16 shooting from the floor. He also chipped in eight rebounds, six assists and three steals in 32 minutes of action, finishing with his 10th 20-point effort in the Blue & Gold.

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Players Mentioned

Oso Ighodaro

Kam Jones

Tyler Kolek