#MUBB Heads To NYC For BIG EAST Tournament

The No. 6/6 Marquette University men's basketball team (25-6, 17-3 BIG EAST) opens play at the 2023 BIG EAST Conference Tournament presented by Jeep at 11 a.m. CT on Thursday, March 9 in Madison Square Garden. The top-seeded Golden Eagles will face the No. 8 St. John's/No. 9 Butler winner, the squad's two most-recent opponents. FS1 will feature the television broadcast, with Tim Brando (play-by-play), Jim Jackson (analyst) and Kristina Pink (reporter) calling the action. Thursday's winner earns a spot in the semifinals at 5:30 p.m. CT on Friday night.

Marquette Set For BIG EAST Tourney

Marquette is set for its 17th BIG EAST Conference Tournament and will be making a trip to at least the quarterfinals for the 16th time.

For the first time since joining the BIG EAST in 2005-06, Marquette has earned the top seed in the event.

The Golden Eagles are 12-16 all-time in the BIG EAST Tournament and 24-31 in postseason events since joining a league for the first time in 1989-90. MU has made a total of three trips to the BIG EAST semifinals, most recently in 2019 against Seton Hall (L, 81-79). The Golden Eagles were defeated in 2010 by Georgetown, 80-57, and Pittsburgh, 68-61, in 2008.

Marquette's lone league tournament title came in 1996-97 when the team won four games in four days at the Conference USA Championship in St. Louis.

MU Exceeds Preseason Expectations

Marquette's win over Butler on Feb. 28 clinched the outright regular season title, just the program's fourth championship since it began conference affiliation in 1989-90.

Marquette's last regular season league trophy came in 2012-13 (shared with Louisville and Georgetown) and the team also claimed the Great Midwest Conference championship in 1993-94 and the Conference USA crown in 2002-03.

The team's 17 league wins are its most in school history and for the first time in its tenure in the BIG EAST (joined in 2005-06), Marquette defeated every league opponent at least once. Only one team (Syracuse in 2011-12, 17-1) in BIG EAST history has claimed 17 league wins.

Kolek, Ighodaro, Jones Earn All-League Honors

Marquette's Tyler Kolek, Oso Ighodaro and Kam Jones have been named to the BIG EAST all-league squads, the conference office announced Sunday afternoon.

Kolek was named All-BIG EAST First Team (unanimous selection) and both Ighodaro and Jones were tabbed All-BIG EAST Second Team.

Kolek is ranked among the BIG EAST leaders in five categories and tops the conference (second in the nation) in assists per game (7.9). He owns three-straight double-doubles and averaged 20.3 points and 11.3 assists per outing in those contests.

Ighodaro is one of the league's most improved players and is currently ranked among the top players in the BIG EAST in field goal percentage (3rd, .656 – 6th in nation), rebounds (16th, 5.8) and assists per game (14th, 3.3).

Jones leads the team in scoring with 15.3 points per game and is ninth in the BIG EAST. He is one of the league's top 3-point shooters, ranked second in the conference in treys per game (2.8).

The Golden Eagles have had at least one player honored each year since the program began league affiliation with the Midwestern Collegiate Conference in 1989-90.

Joplin Named BIG EAST's Sixth Man

Sophomore David Joplin has earned the BIG EAST Sixth Man Award, the league office announced Monday morning.

The Milwaukee, Wisconsin, native has appeared in all 31 outings off the bench and is fifth on the team in scoring (9.2 ppg.) and shooting 38.4 percent from behind the 3-point line, the 13th-best mark in the conference. He is knocking down 1.8 treys per contest (11th in BIG EAST).

Joplin is the third Marquette player to claim the award since the program joined the BIG EAST in 2005-06. Davante Gardner earned the accolade in back-to-back seasons (2012-13 and 2013-14) and Andrew Rowsey was honored in 2016-17.