Marquette 81, Georgetown 51: Ben Gold and David Joplin help Golden Eagles bounce back and it leaves Hoyas coach Ed Cooley ranting
After his team's worst performance of the season, Marquette men's basketball coach Shaka Smart wanted to see ultimate connectivity from the Golden Eagles.
He got that on Friday night at Fiserv Forum with MU getting the bounce-back victory it needed with an 81-51 thrashing of Georgetown.
The Golden Eagles (10-3, 1-1 Big East) racked up 22 assists after notching just seven in its 72-57 loss at Providence on Tuesday night.
"We were a lot more connected tonight," Smart said. "A lot more clear. Just in understanding how to play the game and how to help each other play the game together.
"It's not one-on-one, it's a unit out there on the defensive end and the offensive end. And the way we play goes a lot beyond the individual statistics on this page right here."
BOX SCORE: Marquette 81, Georgetown 51
It was a quick turnaround for MU, but the team spent the last few days hashing out their issues.
"There was some conversations on our team between different guys," Smart said. "On our coaching staff and on our team. That were sometimes heated, sometimes a little volatile.
"But that's good. It's what's needed. We need to be able to come together around adversity and challenges. We have high expectations. So when we don't reach those expectations in a given game, then we're going to address that."
Ben Gold gives Golden Eagles a spark
The Hoyas (7-6, 0-2) grabbed an early lead with MU struggling to shoot, but Ben Gold came off the bench to tie the game at 13-13 with a three-pointer.
Gold hit 3 three-pointers in the first half and that seemed to open the floodgates for the MU offense.
"When Ben comes in it just gives you a different element," Smart said. "Because now you got a guy that stretch the floor at 6-10. His readiness to shoot was phenomenal."
The Golden Eagles led, 41-24, at halftime and then pushed the lead to 38 points in the second half.
"I thought we were defending pretty well," Smart said. "Sometimes you defend well and they make a shot.
"Then on our offensive end, as happens sometimes, we continue to be surprised by the opponents being physical with us. It took us a few possessions to settle into handling physicality and the way they were going to defend."
Shaka Smart praises David Joplin's performance
David Joplin took over the hot shooting in the second half for the Golden Eagles.
Joplin finished with 20 points, making 4 of 7 from behind the arc. But that's not why Smart was excited.
"I really got on him coming into this game about his offensive rebounding and challenged him," Smart said. "I just feel like he could do more than he had done on the glass through 12 games.
"And so he matched his total offensive rebounds in 28 minutes tonight. So I'm really proud of him and it's amazing how that carries over to other aspects of your game. Whether it's defensive rebounding, whether it's defending a tough player, whether it's shooting the ball, scoring the ball. So it's poetic justice for him to have 20 points as well."
Joplin checked out of the game with 2:43 left and shared a long embrace with Smart.
Stevie Mitchell sits out fourth straight game
The Golden Eagles played their fourth straight game without starting guard Stevie Mitchell (hamstring). Chase Ross started again in Mitchell’s spot.
MU will take a few days off for the holidays before returning to play Creighton on Dec. 30 at Fiserv Forum.
"Hopefully Stevie will come back soon because we miss him," Smart said. "You can't really quantify some of the things he does."
Ed Cooley loves Tyler Kolek, but rants about Georgetown's loss
Georgetown head coach Ed Cooley, in his first season at the program after jumping over from Providence, singled out Tyler Kolek as spearheading MU's balanced attack.
Kolek finished with 13 points and 10 assists.
"He does a great job," Cooley said. "Coach puts him in a great spot. Again, I didn't feel like they had any resistance and they did a great job sharing the ball. 22 assists in a game is a lot. And that goes to show me that there was no disruption defensively."
Cooley had more strong words for his team, which has been in the Midwest since playing Notre Dame on Dec. 16.
"Very disappointed with how our team performed," Cooley said. "Whether we've been on the road, five, six or 20 days, I didn't feel the fight of my group.
"And that's on me. I didn't feel the grit of our group and that's on me. I don't think my team was coached well today. I don't think we were prepared today. I feel like we let down all of our Hoya nation with that performance was (expletive) poor. (Expletive) poor. We didn't have fight, we didn't have pop, we didn't have resilience. And that's not something I'm comfortable with."
Cooley wasn't done.
"Marquette played really well," he said. "This was a must win for them and they played like that. They played like a veteran team, like a Big East team that has won a championship. Like a Big East team that is accustomed to winning at home.
"We just didn't show up today. Very disappointed in our overall preparation today. Today. That was just a (expletive) performance by Georgetown."
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Marquette basketball dominates Georgetown, 81-51, at Fiserv Forum
