Fourth-ranked Marquette led for all but 22 seconds while knocking off No. 1 ranked Kansas 73-59 in the semifinals of the Maui Invitational late Tuesday night. The victory was Marquette’s third over a No. 1 ranked team in program history.
Oso Ighodaro led the Golden Eagles (5-0) with 21 points, a game-high nine rebounds and two blocked shots. Chase Ross came off the bench to score 12 points. MU’s defense helped force 18 Kansas turnovers. Marquette led by as many as 17 points in the second half.
Marquette takes on No. 2 Purdue for the Maui Invitational championship at 5 p.m. ET today on ESPN. The Golden Eagles will attempt to become the first team since Loyola Chicago in 1963 to defeat the No. 1 and No. 2 Associated Press ranked teams on consecutive days. Loyola Chicago beat No. 2 Duke followed by No. 1 Cincinnati in the 1963 NCAA Final Four. During the game, Marquette legend Dwyane Wade credited head coach Shaka Smart with rejuvenating the culture at his alma mater. “He’s built a community and a culture here and you see these guys out here really giving their all for each other. So it’s great,” he said on ESPN. “It’s great to see No. 1 vs. No 4 this early in the year.” Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter Follow ZAGSBLOGHoops on Instagram And Like ZAGS on Facebook"The more together team tomorrow is going to win the game." 🗣️@TheAndyKatz talked to Tyler Kolek about @MarquetteMBB's big win over Kansas and looks ahead to the @MauiInv Championship Game against Purdue 🎙️ pic.twitter.com/bbkNm6VDzB
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) November 22, 2023
