Player grades: Marquette vs New Mexico

It wasn’t a good game for Marquette, lets put it out there. Plenty of credit goes to New Mexico, sure, but the turnovers and mistakes that were at times self inflicted, like the 3 turnovers from out-of-bounds plays, magnified the lack of creators this time had outside of Kam and Jop. Shaka Smart mentioned the word “lack of poise” several times in his post game interview, but in general, this team could not put it together when it mattered most.

In the interest of keeping this short, I’m not good at writing obits, here’s how I’d grade the players tonight.

Kam Jones: C- (13 pts, 5ast, 5reb, 4 TO)
It’s not that Kam was bad, 13/5/5 is usually pretty good from your PG, but this team needed, and has usually gotten, much much more from its talisman. He couldn’t seem to get anything going downhill and didn’t take advantage of getting New Mexico’s bigs switched onto him.

David Joplin: A (28 pts, 4reb, 4 TO)
Yes, we can talk about the turnovers, but the only reason this was close in the 2nd half was Jop’s offensive performance. The shots, the moves in the paint, the finishes. This may have been his peak offensive performance. Can’t ask for much more than 28 points.

Stevie Mitchell: C- (3 pts, 3 reb, 1 stl)
He did a good job on Dent in the 1st half but faded fast in the 2nd half, and saw Zaide Lowery take his minutes down the stretch. It’s not like MU needs Stevie to score to make an impact but going 1-7 from the field shrunk the court in a way that was particularly impactful against this long defense that used his player to bring doubles to drivers.

Chase Ross: D+ (5 pts, 2 ast, 2 TO)
This feels harsh, but I don’t remember anything from him tonight. Chase has had some magnificent offensive performances, but they come sporadically and in bunches. Only 6 shots, and 2 TOs, this team just needed more from the junior, and it didn’t come.

Ben Gold: B- (9 pts, 6 reb)
When Ben was on the court, he was incredibly impactful, stretching the floor and hitting three 3s in the first half and grabbing 6 boards. But he wasn’t able to stay on the floor due to foul trouble, and that really hurt Marquette.

Royce Parham: C (2 pts, 1 reb)
That’s a really tough environment for a freshman playing up a weight level, but outside of a few backdoor cuts, he played decently. The 3-point shot wasn’t falling, which was missing to help space the floor, but at this point of the season, that’s not something he can be counted on.

Zaide Lowery: B (4 pts, 3 reb)
He’s had flashier offensive games, but Zaide’s defense and rebounding, his calling card all season were once again net positives. Expectations are going to be up for the

Tre Norman: NA

Damarius Owens: NA