Tag: Kam Jones

Notre Dame not nearly competitive against Marquette

Not a good night to say the least.

MILWAUKEE – Notre Dame knew it had its toughest test of the season in playing Marquette on the road. Sure enough, everything went against the Irish from the moment they stepped onto the Fiserv Forum court. Battling the No. 8 team in the country and a raucous crowd, the Irish merely were foils in a 78-59 loss that was more of a blowout than the final score indicated.

The Eagles (8-2) scored early and often in the first half, putting the game’s first 17 points on the board unanswered. By the time [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] put back his own miss on a layup with 12:53 left in the opening frame, the Irish (4-5) already were too far behind to even make it a contest. While they did outscore the Eagles in the second half, 35-26, it came far too late.

Dominance doesn’t even begin to describe the Eagles’ performance in this game. Factoring in the four shot-clock violations they committed in the first half alone, the Irish were completely annihilated. That includes on fast-break points (26-4), points off turnovers (30-12) and points in the paint (42-16). The eye test also showed that the Eagles are bigger, faster and more coordinated than the Irish, who are just trying to tread water in the middle of a rebuild.

Oso Ighordaro is headed to the NBA after this season, and he showed why with 20 points on six-of-eight shooting and making all eight of his free throws. Tyler Kolek had an impressive line of 17 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Kam Jones, another NBA draft prospect, contributed 11 points.

Burton was one of the few bright spots for the Irish, scoring 20 points to match Ighordaro and recording a game-high four steals. [autotag]Julian Roper II[/autotag] scored all nine of his points on three 3-pointers.

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Shaka Smart showed impressive hops after Kam Jones scored 18 straight points for Marquette

This guy was FIRED UP.

Shaka Smart led No. 2 Marquette to a statement victory over No. 15 Vermont during the first round of the East region in the NCAA tournament.

The game looked like it was a close one, and Vermont cut the lead to just five points. Then sophomore Kam Jones somehow managed to score 18 consecutive points for Marquette. This was the key to a game-changing, 27-10 run for the Golden Eagles.

Jones had recorded just one point in the game before his massive hot streak. He finished with 19 points as Marquette defeated Vermont by a final score of 78-61. Nobody seemed happier for Jones than Smart:

Jones finished the regular season with the lowest turnover percentage and one of the highest two-point percentages in the Big East conference.

Marquette has now won 10 games in a row and 15 of their last 16. But given the stakes, the run Jones went on during the NCAA tournament is perhaps the most impressive of the entire stretch.

That being said, the hang time that Smart had during his celebration was pretty impressive as well. We shouldn’t be too surprised, though. Smart was a DIII point guard at Kenyon University and still leads the program in assists.

This game clearly meant a lot to Smart, though, who was fired up on the sidelines. He got to enjoy a milkshake after the victory, too, which broke Smart’s six-game losing streak in the NCAA tournament and represented his first win during March Madness in a decade.

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Notre Dame’s experience can’t compete with Marquette’s youth

“Staying old” didn’t work in this matchup.

From the beginning of the season, [autotag]Mike Brey[/autotag] has lauded the experience on Notre Dame’s roster. However, one basic rule of sports is that if a team is young and talented enough, it can be a serious threat to experience. That threat played out Sunday at Purcell Pavilion. In the end, [autotag]John Shumate[/autotag]’s Ring of Honor induction at halftime was the only experience worth celebrating in a 79-64 loss to Marquette.

The story of this game was that the Irish (7-3) were outplayed and outhustled by a younger and hungrier opponent. The Golden Eagles (8-3) turned up the defensive pressure and forced the Irish into ugly shots and poor decision-making, ultimately resulting in 10 Irish turnovers to the Eagles’ three.

Even when they found openings in that defense, the Irish weren’t able to make enough shots regardless of distance. They somehow only trailed by five at halftime, but the Eagles finally made them pay with more offensive power afterwards, and it was their fans rocking Purcell Pavilion before the game even ended.

Kam Jones led all scorers with 25 points. Oso Ighodaro had a double-double of 16 points and 18 rebounds, seven of them coming on the offensive end. which undoubtedly contributed to the Eagles’ 22-7 advantage in second-chance points. Olivie Prosper scored 14, and Tyler Kolek had 11 points to go with a game-high six assists.

Although [autotag]Nate Laszewski[/autotag] and [autotag]JJ Starling[/autotag] scored 20 and 12 points, respectively, they combined to shoot 11 of 27 (40.7%) from the field. No one else on the Irish scored more than eight points. That’s not exactly a recipe for success, and the chances for that success won’t get any easier with Georgia awaiting in Atlanta next week.

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Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89