I don’t normally write much after a cupcake. Any stats pulled out have too tiny a sample to be worth discussing. And there’s not a ton to take away from end to end blowouts.
But I needed to expand on the attendance, so am using this pace for that and a few other blurbs.
Record Attendance
Marquette announced that last nights attendance of 16,352 was a record for most for a home opener in the last 20 years, and while any time MU announces a record that, in and of itself, is noteworthy, the fact that last night obliterated the past 2 decades deserves more conversation.
Since 2003, the furthest back I could find in any public database, Marquette has averaged 12,975 fans in attendance on opening night. Every opener in that span has involved a cupcake, and nearly all have been on week days. So last night wasn’t an aberration in terms of the control groups. So to surpass the average by 26% is like a blaring siren that something special is happening.
Yes, this game was included in the gold and blue mini plans, so it’s not like people were just coming out to see NIU and yes, there was a ceremony to commemorate last season with a banner raising.
And in fact the 2004 opener, with the Final 4 banner raising, was the only other opener to surpass 15K, hitting 15,659. But that was 20 years ago. In today’s environment, with the Bucks an NBA title contender and NCAA attendance steadily dropping every year since, seeing a number surpass that total is mind blowing.
It speaks to the fan’s attachment to this team, and an excitement level that is off the charts high. It speaks to the Athletic Department that was able to have a promo to hand out. It speaks to Shaka and the staff, that fans are so willing to be a part of this ride in person. Mostly, it speaks to the players, who have made an impact on the Marquette community that will be felt for generations to come.
I know, that’s a lot of praise for 1 game, but as someone who has tracked attendance manually for over a decade, seeing an outlier of this magnitude can’t go unmentioned.
Passing Point Created
I wrote a bit about it when it came out last season, but I’m a huge fan of Synergy’s Points Created metric that assigns value to passes that lead to either free throws or a direct hockey assist.
Synergy updated it’s platform to account for a stat they call “Points Created” that, in their words will “take into account points, points from assists, and points from secondary assists. This provides a more complete picture of a player’s contribution to team scoring.”
https://painttouches.com/2023/04/21/tyler-kolek-is-even-better-than-you-thought-marquette/
I think it’s a fabulous metric for players like Tyler Kolek who consistently get others to the line. So I’m going to track it this season to get a better gauge of what’s happening beyond the box score.
On Monday, I thought Sean Jones played very well and got other in scoring position often, but the 3 assists didn’t really reflect that. With Passing Points Created, we can see he was 2nd best on the team, only behind Kam.
Kam Jones
And speaking of Kam, the amount of fun he has on a court, combined with his prodigious talent, make him such a unique player.
Ross Off The Bounce
I said there would be no stat analyzing, but I will make 2 exceptions.
The first is how comfortable Chase looked off the dribble, particularly coming downhill from the arc going left. He was able to score a couple of times and even set up a gorgeous lob for Ben Gold to slam home.
Las season, Synergy had Ross with 16 P&R ball handler possessions, where he ended a possession (via a score, foul, an assist or turnover) after using a pick and roll. Last night alone he had 3 such instances. I won’t even give you what the effectiveness of them was, as the sample is so small, but the volume itself is what has me salivating. (If you want another reference, OMax only had 9 of these possessions last season.)
If Ross can continue to be a creative force off the dribble, both for himself and others, he will be hard to keep off the floor. Neither Stevie Mitchell or David Joplin can do much of this, and neither come anywhere near Ross’ finishing ability.
Again, don’t worry as much about the efficiency just yet, but as you watch the game against Rider on Friday, keep track of how aggressive you see Chase Ross being.
Defensive Rebounding
Marquette’s personnel is not good at rebounding. We’ve known that for years and we didn’t expect that to change over the summer.
But count me as very concerned at the number of offensive rebounds Marquette allowed last night. The 39.1% of shots that NIU grabbed itself is the worst for a non-high major non-conference game under Shaka in his MU tenure. It’s the worst since 2017 and 3rd worst since 2015 for any Marquette team.
I don’t need Marquette to be great, and they assuredly will not be, but simply improving from atrocious to bad would do wonders for the defense. In last season’s opener, Marquette only allowed Radford to grab 20% of misses, so it’s not a case of this team locking in as it gets later in the season.
One last time, this is going to be a problem all year, particularly as NIU ranked 290th in OReb% last season, and the Big East will boast some of the best teams in the country in this regard. Hopefully it was an opening night effort lapse that will be swiftly addressed and corrected.
Highlights
And in case you missed the game, here are the highlights.
Paint Touches 
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