#MUBB Faces No. 22/24 St. Bonaventure For Title Sunday Night

The Marquette University men's basketball team (5-0, 0-0 BIG EAST) wraps up play at the Shriners Children's Charleston classic with a matchup in the championship game against No. 22/24 St. Bonaventure (4-0, 0-0 A-10) on Sunday, Nov. 21 at 6:30 p.m. CT. ESPN will features the national television broadcast, with Rich Hollenberg (play-by-play) and Debbie Antonelli (analyst) calling the action. Following Sunday's outing, the Golden Eagles will return home for a pair of contests against Northern Illinois (Nov. 27) and Jackson State (Nov. 30).

MU Facing Bonnies For First Time Since 1997

Marquette owns a slim 4-3 advantage in the all-time series with St. Bonaventure, with the most recent matchup coming during the 1997-98 campaign.

The series dates back to the 1959-60 campaign and began with three-straight wins by St. Bonaventure, including a 74-70 decision in the first outing on Feb. 20, 1960. The following season, the second-ranked Bonnies posted a 92-63 win in Milwaukee on Jan. 31, 1961.

The two programs have met in postseason action on one occasion. Marquette earned a 70-51 victory on March 20, 1995 in the opening round of the National Invitation Tournament in Milwaukee en route to a runner-up finish, falling to Virginia Tech 65-64 in the title game.

Guard Tyler Kolek, who transferred from George Mason, did face St. Bonaventure on the road in 2020-21, finishing with 17 points, four rebounds and three assists in 36 minutes of action. The Bonnies claimed the 84-67 win, however, in the Atlantic 10 matchup. Head coach Shaka Smart is 2-1 all-time against St. Bonaventure, with all three matchups coming when he was at Texas.

Marquette is searching for its first in-season tournament title since downing LSU and Arizona State in the 2015 Legends Classic in Brooklyn, N.Y. The Golden Eagles advanced to the championship game of the 2019 Orlando Classic before falling to current MU player Darryl Morsell and No. 5 Maryland.

Marquette Shoots & Rallies In Latest Wins

In each of the team's last three outings, the Golden Eagles have trailed by at least 12 points at some point in the game before coming back to secure the win.

Against No. 10/10 Illinois on Nov. 15, Marquette was down by 12 points with just over 10 minutes left in the second half. The defense, which stopped the Illini on 10-of-11 possessions to close the game, helped the team rally for the 67-66 win. On Thursday night against Ole Miss, the Rebels led by as many as 12 points in the first half and owned a 36-31 advantage at the intermission. MU shot nearly 54 percent from the floor in the second half, however, and rallied for the 78-72 win.

In the semifinal matchup with West Virginia, Marquette was down as many as 14 points in the first half and the gap was 12 early in the second stanza. The Golden Eagles used a 13-0 run to take a 55-54 lead and were eventually able to pull away late for the 82-71 win, thanks in large part to 64.0 percent shooting from the floor in the last 20 minutes.

Newcomers Making Most Of Minutes

Of Marquette's returning players from last season, only forward Justin Lewis and guard Greg Elliott have seen extended minutes, which means there are plenty of opportunities for numerous players to have an impact on the game.

Friday night's win over West Virginia was another team effort, with several players coming through with season and personal-best efforts.

Guard Tyler Kolek had 10 first-half points to lead the way and finished with a season-high 18 points, one short of his career-best 19 points last season against UMass.
Olivier-Maxence Prosper grabbed a season-high nine rebounds, surpassing his previous season-best total of seven against SIUE. The nine boards matched a career high, which he set against Duke on Jan. 30, 2021
One game after scoring a season-high 18 points, freshman Kam Jones chipped in 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from deep, all in the second half
Marquette finished with a season-high 12 3-pointers, including a 8-of-13 effort from deep in the second half