Ben Gold's improvement has unlocked a funky and tantalizing lineup option for Marquette

There was a sequence late in the first half of the Marquette men's basketball team's 75-57 victory over Seton Hall on Saturday that showed the potency of a unique lineup.

The Golden Eagles were using Ben Gold and Oso Ighodaro, both 6-foot-11, in what head coach Shaka Smart dubs his "Twin Towers" look. In a slightly new variation, they were playing alongside 6-8 David Joplin in a super-sized lineup.

First, on defense, Gold got switched onto the Pirates' 6-2 Al-Amir Dawes and Gold did an admirable job of staying connected until the jitterbug guard got loose for a tough runner that missed. Ighodaro grabbed the board and started the fast break while Gold sprinted to the left corner.

Ighodaro unleashed a wicked crossover to get into the paint and threw a bullet pass to Gold, who buried a three-pointer that gave MU its first lead at 28-27.

MU had to adjust its rotation against Seton Hall with Kam Jones (ankle) joining Chase Ross (separated shoulder) and Sean Jones (torn ACL) on the bench.

The Golden Eagles might have found something with that big lineup, and Smart could unleash it again when MU (15-5, 6-3 Big East) plays at Villanova (11-9, 4-5) on Tuesday at Finneran Pavilion.

“Those guys have been good together, those two (Ighodaro and Gold), all year when they’ve been in," Smart said. "We’ve not played them together a lot with Jop. But today, being three perimeter players down with Sean, Chase and Kam (out), we kind of had to.

"It’s a very good lineup offensively. You’ve got shooting with Jop and Ben. You’ve got creating and ball-handling with Oso. So you don’t lose anything with offense. You obviously gain size, which is never a bad thing. But defensively now, Oso and Jop got to guard out on the perimeter. Ben’s done a heckuva job guarding the other team’s bigs.

"And I thought they did a nice job today, so we definitely will be going back to that some. We just got to continue to understand how to help each other. And when we do go trap, how to rotate with that lineup in the game."

Ighodaro is a matchup nightmare with his size and passing vision. But what has really unlocked the potential of that lineup is the improvement of Gold.

Nevada Smith helped Ben Gold out of shooting slump

Smart has always been bullish on Gold's potential.

"He’s just scratching the surface of what he can do," Smart said. "What I really, really like about his last two games – and I think it’s more than two, I’d have to look back – but he’s really been playing well on defense.

"He’s been active. He’s been rebounding. He’s been good in pick-and-roll defense. He’s got his hands on the ball. The shooting, he’s one of the best. If we can get him shot opportunities, he’s going to make them."

A bump in the road came when Gold suffered through a 0-for-14 stretch on three-pointers that included his first two attempts against DePaul last Wednesday.

Then Gold knocked down back-to-back triples against the Blue Demons. He is playing with renewed confidence, going 6 for 11 on threes over his last two games.

Gold knew the breakout was coming after working closely with assistant coach Nevada Smith, the team's resident shot doctor.

“Coach Nevada has been really instrumental in helping me a lot with my shooting," Gold said. "It’s more of a mental thing to me, obviously. I know I can shoot the ball, and everyone is going to have phases where they can’t make a shot. But it’s making sure you can impact the game.

"And I felt like through that stretch where I wasn’t making shots, I was still impacting the game defensively and offensively. So I was trying not to get down about it. And then just continue to work on it every day. I’m in the gym every day shooting. And it feels really good in the gym, then if I don’t make them in games, it’s obviously frustrating but I know I can make the shot. So it’s just staying consistent with it."

When Gold was struggling, his shot usually came out of his his hand with a flat arc.

"I have this little thing with Coach Nevada, where he tracks all my misses and which ones are short because I’m not using my legs enough and the shot is flat," Gold said. "So I kind of focus on that a lot more.

"Because I feel like a lot of the time, the only time I miss shots is when I shoot them short. There’s an odd one where I miss long and that’s a good miss for me, I’m happy with that. But just consistently make sure I’m doing it, the same shot every single time, get more arc on it so I know I’m feeling confident about it."

Combination with Oso Ighodaro and David Joplin is working

Gold logged 26 minutes in each of MU's last two games, the most playing time in the New Zealand native's two seasons.

Gold battled through shin splints in the summer that slowed his development.

"Playing more, you kind of just lose yourself in the game," Gold said. "But I’ve enjoyed it a lot. I’ve had to step up a lot more because of these injuries recently. And I feel like everyone’s done a good job of stepping up and taking on a bigger role."

With Kam Jones out of the game, Gold joined the starters in the second half against Seton Hall.

That big lineup pushed MU's one-point lead at the break to 45-33 in just four minutes and 21 seconds.

The Golden Eagles scored 15 points in six offensive possessions during that stretch, with 13 of them coming from Ighodaro, Gold and Joplin.

When Seton Hall closed the gap to 45-41, Smart went back to that jumbo frontcourt. This time, they played just over seven minutes together.

In 11 defensive possessions in that span, the Golden Eagles allowed only eight points. By the time Joplin subbed out, MU's lead was safely at 63-49.

Gold bulked up after his freshman season, so he's more capable to bang with physical centers in the Big East like the Pirates' Jaden Bediako and Elijah Hutchins-Everett. Gold had two blocks against Seton Hall.

"It's a really physical conference," Gold said. "Going against the big guys like (Seton Hall). But it’s just making sure I’m battling every time I’m in there.

"For me, I can use my speed against a lot of the bigger guys. So it’s just if I’m fighting in the post, I can get around them quicker. And then just making sure I’m bringing the physicality to them before they hit me first, which is really helpful."

The pairing with Ighodaro works on defense because the lengthy and athletic Ighodaro can guard perimeter players.

Then on offense when Ighodaro is threading passes and Gold is knocking down shots, it can be a nightmare for opponents.

"I really enjoy it," Gold said. "We do it a lot in practice. Coach really loves and talks about it.

"But it just opens up a lot more for us. Obviously we can both guard. We can both rebound really well, and then he’s a really good playmaker at the big position. So he can get me open shots. I can get him open shots. We kind of just play off each other. It’s a lot of fun."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Marquette's Ben Gold plays well alongside Oso Ighodaro for Shaka Smart