#MUBB Faces Villanova Friday On GOLD OUT Night

The No. 10/10 Marquette University men's basketball team (16-3, 7-1 BIG EAST) returns to Fiserv Forum on Friday, Jan. 24 at 6 p.m. CT to host Villanova (12-8, 5-4 BIG EAST) in league action. FS1 features the national television broadcast, with Connor Onion (play-by-play) and Stephen Bardo (analyst) calling the action. Friday's outing is the program's annual Gold Out, in support of the American Cancer Society and former university president Dr. Michael R. Lovell, who lost his battle with cancer in June of 2024. Following the matchup with the Wildcats, MU travels to Butler on Jan. 28.

Series With Wildcats Dates Back To 1960

Villanova holds a 27-19 advantage over Marquette in an all-time series that dates back to 1960.

Along with regular season and tournament matchups in league play, the two teams also squared off in the 1963 National Invitation Tournament and the 1980 NCAA Championship. Marquette downed the Wildcats 66-58 in the NIT, but fell 77-59 in the opening round of the NCAA's in Providence, R.I.

The Wildcats have been ranked in the top-15 in 19 of the last 25 meetings against Marquette, including four matchups as the top-ranked team in the land, but the Golden Eagles have claimed each of the last seven outings.

Marquette earned victories in each of the three meetings in 2023-24, most recently a 71-65 overtime decision on March 14, 2024 in the quarterfinals of the BIG EAST tourney.

Marquette Back To Winning Ways In BIG EAST

Marquette, which had claimed its first six BIG EAST outings of the season prior to falling to Xavier on Jan. 18, got back on the winning track Tuesday at Seton Hall.

Marquette has claimed as many as six-straight victories in BIG EAST play in each of the last four seasons (including 2024-25) and are 38-10 (.792) in league action since the start of 2022-23, which is the best mark in the conference during that time span. Through games of Jan. 21, UConn is second (37-11) and Creighton third (34-14) in BIG EAST play.

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. 21, Marquette is one of just 10 squads (355 total) 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. Of the eight, the three players (Kolek, Ighodaro, Prosper) currently not starting for the team are competing in the NBA.

Defense On Display In Win At Seton Hall

Marquette missed its final 10 shots of the first half in the win at Seton Hall and still led 33-21 at the intermission thanks in large part to the team's effort at the defensive end.

The Golden Eagles forced 14 turnovers in the first 20 minutes, courtesy of 10 steals and turned those miscues into 16 points. MU also held the Pirates to just 6-of-20 (30.0 percent) shooting from the floor.

MU finished the night forcing 24 SHU turnovers (18 steals) and had three players (Stevie Mitchell, Chase Ross and Kam Jones) with 10-or-more deflections.

The Golden Eagles set season-high marks in turnovers forced (26) and steals (19) against Central Michigan on Nov. 11 at the Al McGuire Center.

Gold Finding Groove In Recent Outings

After scoring double figures in points just once in eight outings, junior forward Ben Gold has netted 10-or-more points in two of the last three contests.

In the game (vs. Xavier) during that span he didn't reach double figures in points, he grabbed a career-best 13 rebounds (eight at the offensive end).

In the last three games, he is shooting 11-of-21 from the floor overall and 8-of-15 from behind the 3-point line and his 14 points against DePaul on Jan. 14 matched a personal best.

Jones Dials Long Distance From Newark

Senior guard Kam Jones entered Tuesday's game at Seton Hall with just nine made 3-pointers in the first seven BIG EAST outings.

The Memphis native found his shooting touch in Newark, finishing the game 4-of-6 from deep and 7-of-11 from the field overall. His four made treys marked his most (4-of-6) in a game since the season opener against Stony Brook (Nov. 4).

Jones now owns 285 career 3-pointers at Marquette, the third-most in school history and he passed Travis Diener (284) on Tuesday night. He also moved into fifth place all-time with 1,754 points (passed Butch Lee and Dominic James) and has a legitimate chance to become just the second player in program history with 2,000 career points (Markus Howard - 2,761).

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Players Mentioned

Ben Gold

Kam Jones

Stevie Mitchell

Chase Ross