#MUBB Faces Southern Wednesday Night At Fiserv Forum

The Marquette University men's basketball team (1-0, 0-0 BIG EAST) wraps up a two-game homestand on Wednesday, Nov. 5 when the team hosts Southern (0-1, 0-0 SWAC) at 7 p.m. CT at Fiserv Forum. ESPN+ features the broadcast, with Josh Maurer (play-by-play) and Brian Butch (analyst) calling the action. Following Wednesday's outing, the Golden Eagles will travel to Chicago to take on Indiana on Sunday, Nov. 9 in a neutral-site matchup at the United Center.

Marquette Owns Series Advantage With SU

The Golden Eagles have claimed each of the three previous meetings with Southern, most recently a 93-56 decision on Nov. 28, 2023 at Fiserv Forum.

Seven current members of the Marquette roster saw action in that outing off the bench. Forward Ben Gold led the way with 10 points and eight rebounds and Zaide Lowery chipped in six points and seven boards.

New Faces In New Places In Season Lidlifter

Each of the 12 active scholarship players saw action in the season-opening win over UAlbany Monday night, including three who made their respective collegiate debuts and another trio who each made their respective first-career starts.

True freshmen Nigel James Jr. and Adrien Stevens and redshirt freshman Josh Clark were all introduced to the crowd at Fiserv Forum in the opening minutes and guard Sean Jones and forwards Zaide Lowery and Caedin Hamilton were on the Al McGuire Court for the opening tip for the first time.

Prior to Monday night, since the opening contest of the 2022-23 campaign (Kolek, Ighodaro, Prosper, Mitchell, Jones), just eight different players had started a game for MU, the lowest total in all of NCAA Division I. Of the eight, four players (Kolek, Ighodaro, Prosper, Jones) who completed their respective eligibility are currently competing in the NBA.

In 2024-25, Marquette was one of just two squads (St. Mary's College) to feature the same starting lineup (Jones, Mitchell, Joplin, Ross, Gold) for the entire season. In 2023-24, Marquette and Marshall were the only two teams in the country to utilize the same starting five for the entire season.

Marquette Kills It In Opening Win

Marquette's effort at the defensive end was consistent from the opening tip to the final horn on Monday night in the 80-53 win over UAlbany.

The Golden Eagles held the Great Danes to just 28.4 percent (19-of-67) from the floor, including 16.7 percent (5-of-30) from behind the 3-point line. Marquette forced 23 turnovers courtesy of a Fiserv Forum-record 18 steals and turned those miscues into 16 points.

MU also collected a program-best 13 kills (three defensive stops in-a-row) under head coach Shaka Smart, surpassing the previous total of 11 set against Georgetown at home on Dec. 22, 2023.

Bench Makes Impact In Opener

While all 12 scholarship players saw at least eight minutes of action on Monday night, the seven who checked in off the bench made the most of their respective opportunity.

The reserve corps accounted for nearly half (39) of the team's 80 points, combining to collect 10 rebounds, seven steals and four assists.

The 39 bench points are the most since the reserves contributed 56 points against Central Michgian on Nov. 10, 2022 in a 97-73 victory on campus at the Al McGuire Center.

Smart Set To Reach Century Mark At MU

Fifth-year head coach Shaka Smart is 99-41 in just over four seasons at Marquette and just one win away from becoming the eighth team mentor in program history to reach the century mark.

With the next win, Smart will join Al McGuire (295), Bill Chandler (193), Tom Crean (190), Buzz Williams (139), Hank Raymonds (126), Steve Wojciechowski (128) and Mike Deane (100) in the century club at Marquette.

Should Marquette defeat Southern on Wednesday night, Smart would tie Crean for the second-fastest to 100 wins (141 games) at Marquette. Raymonds reached the mark in 138 outings midway through the 1981-82 campaign.