No. 7/8 #MUBB Hosts Xavier Sunday at 4 pm. CT

The No. 7/8 Marquette University men's basketball team (20-6, 11-4 BIG EAST) continues its three-game homestand on Sunday, Feb. 25 at 4 p.m. CT when the squad hosts Xavier (13-13, 7-8 BIG EAST) in a "Gold Out" game at Fiserv Forum. FS1 features the television broadcast, with Matt Schumacker (play-by-play) and Nick Bahe (analyst) calling the action. Fans are encouraged to wear Gold in support of the American Cancer Society.

Marquette Facing Xavier For 85th Time

Marquette and Xavier will meet for the 85th time on Sunday night, continuing a series that spans nearly half of the program's 105-year history.

The Golden Eagles own a 57-27 overall lead in matchups that date back to the 1958-59 campaign. MU dominated the pairings during the Al McGuire and Hank Raymonds era, at one point claiming 26-straight victories between 1969 and 1983.

The Golden Eagles claimed two of the three matchups in 2022-23, most recently earning the program's first-ever BIG EAST tournament title with a 65-51 win over No. 15 Xavier on March 11, 2023 in the championship game. MU also claimed a 69-68 win at Fiserv Forum on Feb. 15 on a tip-in by Olivier-Maxence Prosper with 1.6 seconds left in regulation.

1973-74 Final Four Team Celebrates 50th

Marquette will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1973-74 team's run to the NCAA Final Four and title game under head coach Al McGuire at Sunday's game.

The team posted a 26-5 record en route to the program's first-ever appearance in the NCAA National Championship game, falling 76-64 to NC State.

Marquette reached a season-high ranking of No. 3 on March 19, 1974 and was ranked in all 18 Associated Press Top 20 polls that season, never falling lower than No. 11.

Led on the court by Bo Ellis (only MU player to play in two title games) and All-American Maurice Lucas, the team started the season winning 10 in a row and 16-of-17. They went on to defeat five-ranked teams during the season including No. 6 Kansas (semifinals), No. 6 Vanderbilt and No. 12 Michigan during the NCAAs.

Kolek Distributes At Record Level

Senior guard Tyler Kolek leads the nation in assists per game (7.6) through outings of Feb. 22, courtesy of his record-setting effort in the win over DePaul.

Kolek dished out a Marquette single-game high 18 assists (13 in the first half), breaking the previous mark of 17 set by MU's all-time leader, Tony Miller, against Memphis on March 4, 1995. His total is the second-highest in the NCAA this season (19, Jaquan Carlos–Hofstra, Drew Thelwell – Morehead State) and the second-best in the history of the BIG EAST (22 – Sherman Douglas, 1989, 18 – Pearl Washington, 1984).

Kolek is the only player in NCAA Division I with at least 18 assists in less than 27 minutes of action in the last 25 years.

Kam Jones Nets Another Career High

Junior guard Kam Jones scored a career-high 34 points in the win over DePaul, surpassing his previous career best of 31 points set Feb. 3 at Georgetown.

The Memphis native finished 12-of-15 from the floor overall and 8-of-10 from behind the 3-point line, marking a personal best in makes from distance as well. Jones, who also found time to chip in two assists, a pair of steals and a rebounds, did so in just 23 minutes on the court.

Jones is the first MU player with multiple 30-point games (2) in the same year since Markus Howard in 2019-20 (14). In the 30-point outings against the Hoyas and Blue Demons, Jones combined to shoot 24-of-30 from the floor and 15-of-19 from distance to average 32.5 points per outing in just 22.0 minutes per game.

Mitchell One Of League's Top Defenders

Marquette guard Stevie Mitchell is one of the BIG EAST's top defenders and a candidate for the league's defensive player of the year award.

Through games of Feb. 22, he ranks third in the conference and 41st in the nation in steals per game (2.1). Tasked with defending the opponent's top perimeter player on a nightly basis, Mitchell is second on the team in deflections (135) by just one to Oso Ighodaro (see list on page 4), despite missing four games with a hamstring injury.

Mitchell finished with a team-high 13 deflections in just 22 minutes against DePaul and for the season owns a squad-best 3.99 deflection interval (one deflection for every four minutes played).

Since returning from his injury on Dec. 30, Mitchell is contributing 9.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game while shooting 56.4 percent from the field.