Ole Miss will take on Marquette tonight at the Shiner’s Children Charleston Classic after a 2-0 start in the first week of the college basketball season.
Top 25 St. Bonaventure, West Virginia, and Clemson are also in the eight team early season tournament. The Rebels would play the winner/loser of Elon/West Virginia tomorrow night.
The Cup has compiled a little rundown of what to expect from the Golden Eagles.
Who: Marquette Golden Eagles (3-0)
The Golden Eagles are off to a fast start, with a 1 point victory over #10 Illinois in Shaka Smart’s debut season. Are we so sure Marquette is a better gig than VCU was? One thing you know you will get from a Smart coached team is defensive effort.
See this play for proof:
Getting to know thy enemy
Marquette is the home of some big time NBA guys like Dwyane Wade, Jimmy Butler, Jae Crowder and Wesley Matthews. It is clearly a basketball school. But what is a Marquette? The university was named after Reverend Jacques Marquette and was formed as an academy of learning founded by the first Catholic Bishop of Milwaukee in 1881. Marquette was a French missionary and explorer in North America. I’m bored now!
Marquette basketball is re-energized by the hiring of the talented Shaka Smart after his stint at Texas failed to live up to the impossible expectations of a delusional fan base. Smart’s Havoc defense is designed to create turnovers and easy scores (they turned Illinois over 26 times). Ole Miss will be tasked with slowing down senior guard Darryl Morsell who is averaging 22.7 points per game, freshman forward Justin Lewis (no it’s not me) (17.0 PPG) and freshman guard Tyler Kolek (9.7 PPG and 5.7 assists per game).
Perhaps the biggest challenge for the Rebels in this game will be navigating the pressure of the Havoc defense. Ole Miss is not equipped with a true point guard and will need guys like Joiner, Crowley and Murrell to take exceptional care of the ball. The Golden Eagles might shoot the three ball worse than the Rebs, so don’t expect a shootout. This is going to be a defensive, in the mud kind of basketball game — a throw back if you will. (Hammer the under now, while you still can).
Odds
Line: Ole Miss -3.5
Over/Under: 136.5
How to watch
Where: TD Arena, Charleston, S.C.
When: 6:30pm CDT
TV: ESPN2
Online streaming: WatchESPN