Most of Tuesday’s attention was on the Champions Classic in Chicago, where Kansas rallied to beat Kentucky after Duke handled Michigan State. But the truth is that Marquette had the biggest win of the night.
Final score: Marquette 71, Illinois 64.
That’s a seven-point true road victory in front of a hostile crowd and over a team that’s expected to compete at or near the top of the Big Ten this season. Tyler Kolek, the reigning Big East Player of the Year, led Marquette with 24 points, six rebounds and four assists despite playing on an ankle that was less than 100%.
“We didn’t think yesterday that Tyler would play,” Marquette coach Shaka Smart said afterward. “Our trainers didn’t think today that he could play, but Tyler never said that.”
Illinois coach Brad Underwood was impressed.
“Did you see his ankle?” Underwood asked reporters. “It was black and blue — and he played 37 minutes.”
Kam Jones continued his nice junior season by taking 13 shots, making six of them, and finishing with 15 points and five rebounds in 28 minutes for the Golden Eagles. The 6-foot-5 guard is now averaging 19.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists while shooting 52.6% from the field and 47.6% from 3-point range.
“Marquette’s backcourt [of Kolek and Jones] is just short of spectacular,” Underwood said. “Kam Jones is one of the most underrated players in the country.”
Marquette remains No. 6 in Wednesday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings. The Golden Eagles’ next game is Monday against UCLA.
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Top 25 And 1 rankings
