Shaka Smart says Tyler Kolek won't play in Marquette's first game at Big East tournament

NEW YORK - The Marquette men's basketball team will open the postseason without one of its most important players.

Golden Eagles head coach Shaka Smart said point guard Tyler Kolek will sit out the Golden Eagles' first game of the Big East tournament on Thursday at Madison Square Garden with his oblique injury.

Third-seeded MU (23-8) will play the winner of Wednesday's matchup between DePaul (3-28) and Villanova (17-14).

Smart said Kolek hasn't been ruled out for the entire Big East tournament.

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"He's still day-to-day," Smart said on Wednesday. "Not planning on him playing tomorrow.

"I mean, he's close. He practiced for part of our session today. He's been working out. Continuing to get treatment. I would say if you had to put a label on the rest of the Big East tournament, it's probably questionable.

"The plan is absolutely for him to play next week (in the NCAA Tournament). He's really made good progress."

Kolek hurt his oblique making a pass against Providence on Feb. 28. He then missed MU's final three-regular seasons games, losses to Creighton and Connecticut and a victory over Xavier.

Kolek is one of the top players in college basketball. He is averaging 15 points and a nation-best 7.6 assists per game.

Even though his injury cut short his regular season, Kolek keeps racking up season awards. He was a unanimous pick for the all-Big East first team by both the league coaches and the media. Kolek is already popping up on All-American teams that have been released, making the Sporting News' second team, with more likely to come.

"It's important for him to get healthy," Smart said. "That's the most important thing. To get back to full health.

"It's a unique injury. So it's not really one that any of us have a ton of experience with. So there's a little bit of cautiousness there, because of what our ultimate goal is.

"If today was the national championship game, he would be playing. The Big East tournament is obviously a big deal and we want to win, but we also have to make sure we get back on that airplane from New York to Milwaukee feeling better about coming out here in terms of his health."

The Golden Eagles won the Big East tournament last season for the first time.

"He's a competitor," Smart said. "He really wants to play. So it's not easy for him to not play.

"He wants to be out there with his teammates. I'm sure when we get out there in the Garden (to play) that will multiply by 10. But he's also a mature young man and understands the things that matter."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Tyler Kolek report: Marquette's first game in Big East tournament