Last season’s win over Central Michigan—a 97-73 laugher inside the Al McGuire Center—became a small blip on the radar of an eventual historic 29-win, championship season. But there were two moments in that game that stood out in Shaka Smart’s mind—and have now set the stage for what’s quickly becoming one of the most dynamic aspects of this year’s offense.
Midway through the first half of that game, freshman Sean Jones took his defender off the dribble, penetrated into the lane, and kicked the ball back out to Tyler Kolek for a top-of-the-arc 3-pointer. Two trips later, Jones—playing in his second ever collegiate game—led a fast break into the paint, spun, and again found a trailing Kolek for another triple.
“I remember thinking then,” Smart said, “‘Man, Sean could be a real asset if he can do that for Tyler.’”
Fast forward 55 weeks and the tandem was back at it again. Returning to the mainland following their eye-opening performance in Honolulu last week, the Jones-Kolek combo was on full display in a 93-56 win over Southern. Marquette’s two point guards shared the floor for 8 minutes, with the Golden Eagles scoring 26 points on 17 possessions in that span. Among those points scored? A pair of knockdown triples from Kolek on assists from Jones.
It’s the newest blossoming wrinkle in a Marquette offense that has an embarrassment of riches—and more on the way as players like Jones become more comfortable in their role. Jones is hardly just a spell for his All-American teammate; he’s becoming an integral part of an offense that becomes all the more dangerous with a confident second ball handler in it.
“The way that we recruit and the way that we substitute and play, literally any guy on our team can play with any other guy,” Smart said. “There’s a versatility there in our group that can be a real strength to us when we press that advantage.”
Kolek-Jones lineups tout a stellar net rating of +18.3, and it hasn’t just been them beating up on cupcakes: the duo was lethal in Maui—including a +14 mark against Kansas in 22 possessions together. Smart is certainly taking notice, too: the pair played together on 333 possessions last season; they’re already at 136 through seven games.
Those minutes have primarily seen Jones take on a true point guard role, shifting Kolek to the wing to allow him to roam the perimeter for open 3-point looks or to catch rotating defenses off guard.
It’s easy to forget that Kolek, now the country’s top point guard, is just a few years removed from playing shooting guard at George Mason—where he tallied more 3-point makes (53) than assists (50). His 3-point percentage jumped from 28% in Year 1 with Marquette to 40% during last season’s All-American campaign. He’s 11 of 21 (52%) to begin this season—and it’s no coincidence that Jones has been on the floor for nine of those makes, including all four on Tuesday.
“I can play with anybody,” Jones told Paint Touches. “Tyler likes to play off the ball. Me being in—especially when I’m making plays—makes it easier for him. He knows I’m going to find him.”
The Kolek-Jones numbers get even better when digging a bit deeper. Marquette is creating and taking 8.5 corner 3-pointers per 40 minutes when Kolek and Jones share the floor—that ranks in the 97th percentile nationally. The Golden Eagles are making just 31.6% of those attempts, an anomaly that should yield positive regression in due time. On Tuesday night, Jones entered the game following the under-16 timeout in the first half. The very first time he touched the ball, he broke Southern’s press and sent a bullet of a pass to the middle of the floor to Oso Ighodaro, who whipped the ball to the left corner for a Kolek triple, the 1,000th point of his career.
While Marquette’s offense is at its best when Kolek—the Big East’s leader in points created last season—is directing traffic, finding spots for him to get comfortable on the wing adds another dimension to this group’s deep arsenal. Jones makes that happen.
“Sometimes because of the way we do things, you’re out there with a couple other guys that think of themselves as primary ball handlers, but it does take some time to learn to play together,” Smart said. “But once those guys get the hang of it, they love it. Every good player loves to be in a situation where you can facilitate for others and others will facilitate for you. I’ve never met a guy that only want to do one or the other. That’s a true point guard.”
But Jones isn’t simply in the lineup to complement Kolek—as well as he might accomplish that task. The sophomore dubbed “the fastest player in college basketball” by Smart is becoming a reliable lead guard who is harnessing his agility, speed, and decision-making to make the right play and find high-percentage scoring opportunities.
Jones admitted his freshman campaign—which included missing three games with a wrist injury in January that required offseason surgery—was wrought with poor angles to the basket and trouble reading defenses. Neither of those shortcomings were unique for a freshman, but Jones took it upon himself to improve in that area in Year 2, working daily in the offseason finishing with contact and building lower-body strength (specifically his ankles).
Smart advised Jones not to necessarily slow down but rather to play “slow to fast,” keeping defenses guessing with an elite change of pace—and the numbers have been nothing short of incredible for the 5-foot-10 guard.
Though Tuesday’s 2-for-6 shooting from inside the arc—which did include an impressive transition layup in which Jones finished with three Southern defenders barreling down on him—put a dent in his numbers, he’s still made 65% of his 2-pointers (to put that in context, Kam Jones and his wizardry around the basket have made 58% of 2s, albeit at a much higher volume). That’s 3rd best of all players 6-feet and under with a minimum 15 attempts and tops of any high major player. It also included an 8-for-8 performance in Honolulu that would have made even Zach Edey and Hunter Dickinson blush.
“I’ve been focusing a lot on finishing,” Jones said. [Last year] I’d get to my spot and not finish the play. There’s a big focus on finishing through the play, getting simple ones, ones I know I can make.”
Whether Jones is initiating offense to attract attention away from an All-American or knifing his way through defenses on his way to an acrobatic finish in the lane, it’s clear that he’s carved out so much more of a role than simply tapping out Kolek for a quick breather. There’s room for two point guards in this free-flowing Marquette offense, and Jones has made a leap that makes it not only doable but optimal.
“We love when he scores,” Smart said. “But man, he’s so good at getting in the paint and [then] the defense collapses. When he finds teammates, it’s just huge for us. It’s a really big Energy Generating Behavior.”
Combining the two creates a matchup nightmare for opposing defenses. The two couldn’t have more different styles—and instead of defenses needing to change their strategy based on Marquette’s substitution patterns, they’re now having to deal with it in real-time depending on which guard has the ball in his hands.
“It’s two different paces that’s hard for teams to deal with,” said David Joplin, who finished with 10 points in Tuesday’s win. “Sean’s super-fast and Tyler is obviously slow to take his time and see everything.
“Special teams have special players. Having both of them at the same time is really, really hard to guard.”
Smart joked after Tuesday’s win that he’s had just one season in his professional coaching career without a point guard, “and I’ll never do that again. I will coach hopefully as many seasons as I can with multiple point guards that we can play out there on the floor.”
That certainly isn’t a problem he’ll run into anytime soon. Kolek was always the known commodity in the equation. Jones’ ascension from a nice change-of-pace guard to a critical role player—who also just so happened to knock down two of the biggest shots of the early season against Illinois and UCLA—is what’s given Marquette a new offensive threat in a rotation already busting at the seams with them.
“I’m just building trust in myself,” Jones said, “and the team has trust in me to get to spots and make the right plays.”
Paint Touches 
Very well written Mark. Always appreciate your work with Paint Touches.