Stony Brook Seawolves vs. Marquette Golden Eagles Pick & Prediction NOVEMBER 4th 2024

Preview and Prediction

Head Coach Shaka Smart expressed his enthusiasm for the upcoming season opener of the No. 18 Marquette Golden Eagles against Stony Brook in Milwaukee. He is excited about the new-look team, which has a mix of both experienced and veteran players.

During the Big East media day last week, Smart mentioned that a major part of the team's transition is to improve the skills of the players. He aims to develop those who played supporting roles in the previous season, such as Tyler Kolek and Oso Ighodaro, into key players this year.

This will be Smart's fourth season at Marquette, and he has an impressive record of 75 wins and 30 losses. The team had a successful season last year, reaching the Sweet 16 for the first time in 11 years with a record of 27-10 (14-6 Big East). They also made it to the Big East tournament championship game for the second consecutive year, but lost to eventual national champions UConn with a score of 73-57.

As they turn the page to a new season, Marquette is fortunate to have key players returning. This includes senior guard Kam Jones, who was named to the preseason All-Big East first team. Jones played a crucial role in the team's offense last year, averaging 17.2 points per game.

Smart's goal for Jones is to take his game to the next level and become an NBA-caliber player. He also revealed that Jones is a better passer than most people think, and fans can expect to see him as a more dynamic playmaker this season.

Another important player returning is senior guard Stevie Mitchell. Although he may not be a prolific scorer in the paint, Mitchell has contributed valuable minutes in every game over the past two seasons. He also had an impressive free-throw percentage of 76.6% and shot above 50% from the field last year.

Their opponent, Stony Brook, had a record of 20-15 (10-8 Coastal Athletic Association) last season and narrowly missed out on an NCAA Tournament bid after losing to top-seeded Charleston in the CAA championship. The conference coaches have predicted that Stony Brook will finish ninth in the 14-team CAA this year.

Stony Brook has a deep roster with eight upperclassmen under the guidance of coach Geno Ford, who is entering his sixth season. One of their standout players is now-senior guard Andre Snoddy, who had a strong offensive performance last season with 17 points and 11 rebounds in a game against Hofstra.

The season opener against Stony Brook is part of the Marquette Challenge multi-team event, which also includes games against George Mason and Central Michigan. It will be an exciting start to what is sure to be a competitive season for the Golden Eagles.

PREDICTION

Stony Brook Seawolves

Marquette Golden Eagles

Stony Brook Seawolves vs. Marquette Golden Eagles Recap NOV 4TH 2024

Kam Jones poured in 32 points to lead No. 18 Marquette to an easy 102-62 victory over Stony Brook in Milwaukee on Monday night in the season opener for both teams.

Jones stepped up for a Marquette team that lost Tyler Kolek and Oso Ighodaro to the NBA this past offseason, knocking down 14 of 16 shots from the field to come up two points shy of matching his career high.

What was originally a close game quickly turned into a rout, with the Golden Eagles putting together a 30-11 run over the final 10:35 of the first half to take a commanding 48-30 advantage into the break. Jones punctuated the game-changing rally with one of his four triples on the night.

Marquette never looked back, going on to lead by as many as 42.

Chase Ross backed up Jones with a career-high 23 points on 9-of-11 shooting. He also had a team-high eight rebounds to go along with four assists.

David Joplin supplied 13 points and seven boards for the Golden Eagles, who connected on 40 of their 68 attempts from the floor (58.8 percent). However, they sank just 9 of 31 3-point attempts (29 percent).

The Seawolves were up 19-18 following a jumper by CJ Luster II with 10:53 left in the first half before the floodgates opened for Marquette. That was the last time that Stony Brook held a lead.

Joe Octave paced the visitors with 12 points, while Ben Wight (10 points, eight rebounds) flirted with a double-double. The Seawolves committed twice as many turnovers as the Golden Eagles (14-7), shot 36.7 percent overall (22 of 60) and went 7-for-25 (28 percent) from beyond the arc.

Marquette finished with a 43-30 advantage on the glass and dominated down low, racking up 60 points in the paint to Stony Brook's 28.