No. 7/7 #MUBB Returns To Action At DePaul Tuesday Night

The No. 7/7 Marquette University men's basketball team (14-2, 5-0 BIG EAST) continues BIG EAST Conference play at DePaul (9-7, 0-5 BIG EAST) on Tuesday, Jan. 14 at 6 p.m. CT in Wintrust Arena. CBS Sports Network features the national television broadcast, with Chris Lewis (play-by-play) and Steve Lappas (analyst) calling the action. Following Tuesday's outing, the Golden Eagles will host Xavier on Saturday, Jan. 18 to conclude its first league home-and-home series of the campaign.

Series With DePaul Spans Program History

Marquette's all-time series with DePaul dates back to the 1917-18 season (second year of MU's varsity history) and includes 135 previous meetings, the highest total against any single opponent in team history.

The Golden Eagles own an 85-50 advantage in the series and the extensive series history has been aided by the fact the two programs have been in the same league dating back to the 1991-92 campaign. Since that season, the teams have shared affiliation in the Great Midwest Conference, Conference USA and BIG EAST.

The Golden Eagles have won six of the last seven contests, including a 105-71 win on Feb. 21, 2024 at Fiserv Forum. Guard Kam Jones scored 34 points in just 22 minutes of action and Chase Ross added 13 points off the bench.

MU Continues Rare BIG EAST Start

Marquette, which is competing in its 20th BIG EAST campaign in 2024-25, has now started league play 5-0 on two occasions since joining in 2005-06 after last Tuesday's win over Georgetown.

The Golden Eagles opened the 2008-09 league campaign 9-0 and were 12-2 before dropping the final four regular-season outings to nationally ranked opponents, including three rated in the top-six.

Marquette has claimed as many as six-straight victories in BIG EAST play in each of the last three seasons and are 36-9 in BIG EAST action since the start of 2022-23.

Continuity Is Key To Recent Success

Since the 2022-23 campaign, Marquette is the only power conference team that hasn't signed a NCAA Division I transfer, leading to as consistent a starting lineup as any program in the country.

Through games of Jan. 11, Marquette is one of less than 20 (355 total) squads to feature the same starting lineup (K. Jones, Mitchell, Joplin, Ross, Gold). Two years ago, Marquette and Marshall were the only two teams in the country to utilize the same starting five the entire season.

Since the opening contest of the 2022-23 campaign (Kolek, Ighodaro, Prosper, Mitchell, Jones), just eight different players have started a game for MU, the lowest total in all of NCAA Division I.

Ross Shoulders Rally In Latest Win

Junior guard Chase Ross had a career night in the win over Georgetown on Jan. 7, helping Marquette rally from 14-point deficit (largest in a win this season).

The Dallas native netted a career-best 27 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the floor, including a 4-of-6 effort from deep. He also knocked down 9-of-10 from the charity stripe and collected a personal-high six steals. In 36 minutes, he also found time to chip in three rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot. He finished with 15 deflections for a "Marquette" double-double.

Ross owns each of the top-three single-game deflection totals at MU (18 - CMU, 15 - Purdue and Georgetown, 14 - George Mason) and is averaging a team-best 7.9 deflections per game.

Marquette's deflection goal for the season is to set each of the top-10 single-game marks (32 is minimum) in program history and so far the team has collected five totals worthy of inclusion.