Tag: Shaka Smart

Marquette has the upper hand over Wisconsin after latest NCAA Tournament win

One NCAA Tournament stat Wisconsin fans do not want to see:

Wisconsin basketball fans likely won’t like this stat about the Badgers’ recent NCAA Tournament woes: with today’s round of 32 win over Colorado, Marquette has as many NCAA Tournament wins in three days as Wisconsin has in seven years.

Marquette’s 81-77 win over No. 10-seed Colorado sends the program to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time under Shaka Smart. The team took care of No. 15-seed Western Kentucky in the first round of this year’s tournament, then narrowly edged No. 10-seed Colorado. That’s two tournament wins so far with more possible in the coming weeks.

Related: Evaluating the reasons for and against Wisconsin basketball firing head coach Greg Gard

Wisconsin, meanwhile, lost to No. 12-seed James Madison to extend its Sweet Sixteen drought to seven years. The program defeated North Carolina in the first round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament, then Colgate in the first round the following year. Every other year has been a first-round exit or a missed tournament. That’s two tournament wins in seven years.

The Badgers have owned the series between the two schools with four wins in the last five meetings. But the postseason success, as fans of the team know, has not followed.

There is some context. Wisconsin was well-positioned entering the 2020 NCAA Tournament before it was canceled due to COVID-19.

But the numbers are the numbers. Consider this further proof of Wisconsin basketball’s recent postseason failures.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes, and opinion. Follow Ben Kenney on X.

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Marquette’s Shaka Smart was egregiously playing defense on the court vs. Creighton and didn’t get T’d up

Shaka Smart got a little too into the action on Saturday

No. 10 Marquette picked up a massive conference win on Saturday, defeating Big East rival No. 22 Creighton, 72-67, at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.

But it wasn’t just a homecourt advantage that helped the Golden Eagles put away the Bluejays. It was some elite defense by one of the most unexpected figures in the program: head coach Shaka Smart.

Smart has always been animated on the sidelines during games but he took that way too far during a Creighton offensive possession in front of the Marquette bench in the first half. While attempting to instruct his players on how to defend, he ended up jumping into the play on the court.

Plenty of criticism goes to Smart here, but don’t let the officials off the hook, either. This should’ve been an easy technical foul on the head coach. Instead it goes down as a successful defensive stop for Marquette.

Fans couldn’t believe Smart got away with this.

Micah Shrewsberry speaks after Notre Dame loss to Marquette

Here from the coach after the Irish were blown out.

MILWAUKEE – [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] knew Notre Dame had its work cut out for it against Marquette. That doesn’t make the Irish’s 78-59 road loss to the eighth-ranked team in the country any easier to take. While he certainly acknowledges that the Eagles are far and away better than the Irish, there has to be a feeling in the back of his mind that things could and should have gone better.

The competition doesn’t get any easier with former Big East foe Georgetown coming to South Bend right after final exams at Notre Dame are over. A little bit further out is the beginning of ACC play, and that’s when things really could get dicey. This game might have served as a dreary preview of what’s to come.

Fighting Irish Wire was on site for this game, and Shrewsberry spoke to the assembled media, which included other folks who cover the team regularly that made the trip to Milwaukee. Here is Shrewsberry’s opening statement and his answers to the two questions we asked him:

No. 8 Marquette embarrasses No. 12 Texas, 86-65

Texas fell to Shaka Smart’s Marquette in embarrassing fashion on Wednesday.

Shaka Smart got his revenge. The current Marquette head coach beat the Texas Longhorns in dominant fashion.

We noted earlier this week that Smart would badly want a win to save face after an unceremonious exit after six seasons coaching the Longhorns. It’s December and not March, so you figured his team would be playing at its best. They did just that.

Marquette shot the basketball well and Texas shot it poorly. Sometimes in that scenario we remark that it just wasn’t the Longhorns’ night. Perhaps in this instance Texas just isn’t that good of a basketball team right now.

The Longhorns looked lethargic and uncertain on the court for the game. Indecision is natural given how many new faces the team breaks in this season. The players have to learn they fit on the current squad. They just don’t look anywhere near that team presently.

On the positive side, there’s plenty of time. Rodney Terry’s Texas teams, unlike Smart’s, play their best basketball in March. They will look to make a significant transformation as they head toward Big 12 play.

Texas basketball prepares to face former head coach Shaka Smart

Texas is a heavy underdog against Shaka Smart’s Marquette Golden Eagles.

Texas hoops faces its second big test of the season after falling to the Connecticut Huskies earlier this season. Next up for the Longhorns are the heavily-favored No. 8 Marquette Golden Eagles.

Marquette has flashed its ceiling and floor this season. While the Eagles fell to an unranked fellow in-state program in Wisconsin, the team stunned No. 1 Kansas earlier in the year. Immediately after facing Kansas, Marquette lost by just three points to No. 2 Purdue.

The prowess of the Longhorns’ next opponent isn’t the topic most Texas fans are concerned with heading into the game. The midweek battle features a reunion with the program’s former head coach Shaka Smart.

Smart was unceremoniously let go as Texas head coach after six seasons on the Forty Acres. In one postseason, the Longhorns’ current head coach Rodney Terry won three NCAA Tournament games. That total was three more than Smart won in his entire time in Austin.

Undoubtedly, Smart will look to save face against the program that did not renew his contract. The reality is, he simply wasn’t a good fit for Texas. He appears to be a fit for Marquette in the team’s fast start to the 2023-24 basketball season.

Texas and Marquette will play Wednesday at 7 p.m. CT on FS1.

Wisconsin basketball broke a 23-year drought today with win over Marquette

Wisconsin basketball broke a 23-year drought today with win over Marquette

Wisconsin basketball defeated No. 3 Marquette 75-64 earlier today, improving to 6-2 on the season and bolstering its resume before Big Ten play begins.

The win is big for many reasons. Wisconsin maintains control of the I-94 rivalry, the Badgers gained more momentum entering conference play and early-season losses against Tennessee and Providence are looking more and more irrelevant.

Also, important, it’s Wisconsin’s third consecutive win over its in-state rival. The Badgers won 89-76 in 2021, 80-77 in 2022 and now 75-64 in 2023. It is the program’s first three-game win streak over the Golden Eagles since its four-game streak from 1998-2001.

Marquette has many two-game win streaks, but it does not have a three-game streak in the series since 1981-1983.

Shaka Smart had to be held back as benches cleared during a skirmish with Bill Self at Maui Invitational

This was INTENSE.

Tensions were high between No. 4 Marquette head coach Shaka Smart and No. 1 Kansas head coach Bill Self during the 2023 Maui Invitational Semifinals.

During the first half, Kansas senior Kevin McCullar hit a 3-point shot and, as the two teams went into a break for a media timeout, it wasn’t long before both benches cleared.

While it wasn’t initially clear what caused the skirmish, the two teams were eventually separated and both of the coaches were issued off-setting technical fouls. NCAA referee Roger Ayers then huddled with Self and Smart in an effort to de-escalate the conflict.

But the two sides remained heated and ESPN clearly captured Self saying the word “unbelievable” after the interaction.

After the game, which Marquette won 73-59, Smart offered his take on what happened during his exchange with McCullar (via KansasCity.com):

“He played at Texas Tech and he always has brought an edge that is different. He’s always enjoyed having a dialogue with me. He probably does that with all coaches. That kind of started the little dust-up. Their bench got involved. Our bench got involved. At the end of the day it really had very little to do with the game.”

Self, meanwhile, didn’t want to talk about the incident after the game but he told reporters that he doubted Smart provided an accurate summary.

For what it is worth: The two coaches and their teams have not seen eye-to-eye for more than a decade. Back in 2011, VCU (then coached by Smart) faced Kansas in the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament. Before the game, Marcus and Markieff Morris had an altercation with VCU in the tunnel.

Smart was later hired by Texas, and for many years, he and Self battled for recruits and conference titles in the Big 12. Three of Smart’s highest-ranked wins have come against Self and Kansas, per ESPN.

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Notre Dame-Marquette rematch scheduled for Dec. 9

Hold onto your hats for this one.

Marquette was one of the most exciting teams in college basketball in 2022-23. Notre Dame saw that up close and person when the Golden Eagles came to Purcell Pavilion in December and won, 79-64. Even with a near-complete roster overhaul and a new coach, the Irish will have a chance to avenge that defeat in the back half of the home-and-home. In fact, they’ll have it almost a year to the day:

Let’s be real when we say this likely won’t be a pretty game for the young Irish. The Eagles are returning most of their talent from this past season, and they just rewarded Shaka Smart with a contract extension that will take him into the next decade. The Irish will need to prepare for a very unforgiving environment, too, as they make their first-ever trip to Fiserv Forum. Then again, they play the games for a reason, and college basketball always provides opportunities for an upset, so we’ll see what happens.

Shaka Smart reaches extension with Marquette after top-10 AP finish

Shaka Smart is staying at Marquette for the foreseeable future, signing an extension on Wednesday.

After leading the Marquette Golden Eagles to their first top-10 finish in the AP Poll since 2003, head coach Shaka Smart and the University of Marquette have reached a contract extension.

First reported by John Fanta of College Basketball on Fox and The Field of 68, Smart’s new contract with the Golden Eagles extends him through the 2029-2030 season. The university later announced the extension via GoMarqutte.com.

“In a very short period of time, Shaka and his staff have done a tremendous job of establishing a winning culture, both on and off the court,” Marquette Vice President & Director of Athletics Bill Scholl said in the press release. “Shaka’s vision for the program is focused on extended, sustainable success.  The individuals who interact with the team on a daily basis are able to observe frequent examples of growth and the excitement around the program is contagious.”

The 2022-2023 season was Smart’s second season with the program after coming to the program for the 20221-2022 season. In that first season with the Golden Eagles, he led them to a 19-13 record and an NCAA Tournament berth as a nine-seed.

Marquette is Smart’s third head coaching job. He previously coached at VCU from 2009-2010 through 2014-2015 where he led the Rams to five straight NCAA tournament appearances including a Final Four berth in 2011. He would lead VCU for Texas in 2015-2016 where he had much less success, making the NCAA Tournament just three times in six seasons. He would decide to leave Austin for Marquette following the 2021 season, signing a six-year deal with the university at the time.

Texas to face Marquette in the 2023 Big East-Big 12 Battle

The Longhorns are matched up with Shaka Smart’s Marquette Golden Eagles.

Texas basketball is set to face off with a familiar face in the 2023 Big East-Big 12 Battle. Continue reading “Texas to face Marquette in the 2023 Big East-Big 12 Battle”