No. 7 Marquette will put a pair of perfect records on the line Tuesday night when it hosts upstart Georgetown in Milwaukee.
The Golden Eagles (13-2, 4-0 Big East) have won four in a row overall and all nine games at home this season.
Kam Jones overcame a disastrous start in which he missed his first seven shots to score 15 of his 22 points in the second half, lifting Marquette to a 79-71 victory over visiting Creighton on Friday.
Jones, who leads the team with 20.3 points and 6.5 assists per game, also had nine rebounds and five assists for the Golden Eagles, who have won their first four conference games for the first time since 2012-13.
“We all want him to have the ball down the stretch. He’s going to be Kam regardless,” Marquette’s Stevie Mitchell said, per the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
Mitchell scored 14 of his 18 points in the first half. He also had three steals to boost his total to 12 over the last three games.
“I’m going to do what I do best, and that’s guard,” Mitchell said. “Make their opposing point guard uncomfortable. Fly around.
“There’s so much more to the game than scoring points. So I think when you focus on all that stuff, the points are just the cherry on top. If the ball goes in, great. If it doesn’t, I can still bring energy. I can still fly around. I can still give EGBs (energy-generating behavior) to my teammates. I can still get deflections. I can still crash the glass. I mean, there’s so many more things.”
Marquette coach Shaka Smart sees value in what Mitchell brings to the table.
“He’s just got this energy that’s unique to him that nobody else has,” Smart said. “Particularly when he’s kind of in that Stevie mode that is superhuman.
“… We’re going to miss him a lot when he’s gone. So I tell myself in moments like that to make sure to appreciate him.”
Like Marquette, Georgetown (12-2, 3-0) also boasts an impressive winning streak. The Hoyas posted their fifth straight victory with a 69-63 home triumph over Xavier on Friday.
Malik Mack scored 20 of his season-high 26 points in the second half.
“I just played through the offense, took opportunities to make a play, and I felt like I was open on certain shots that I knew I could make because that’s what I have been working on,” Mack said. “I felt like I did a really good job reading the defense, having a feel for the game and knowing where I could get my shots off or where I could find my teammates.
Micah Peavy recorded his first double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
“They were in drop coverage, so the midrange is always there,” Peavy said. “I feel like I’m a good midrange shooter, so every time I can get it, I’m gonna take it.”
Thomas Sorber averages a team-best 15.4 ppg for the Hoyas.
–Field Level Media
