IU Basketball game day essentials: Hoosiers take on Marquette in Chicago

Game Day Essentials:

Indiana (1-0) vs. Marquette (2-0)

• Tip Time: 1 p.m. Eastern, Sunday
• Location: United Center (20,917), Chicago, Ill.
• Television: ESPN (Dave O’Brien, Cory Alexander)
• Radio: IU Radio Network (Don Fischer, Errek Suhr, John Herrick)
• Stream: ESPN
• Point Spread:  Indiana is a 2.5-point favorite
• KenPom Projected Score:  Indiana 77  Marquette 75
• History: Indiana leads, 8-2
• Last Meeting: IU 96, MU 73 on Nov. 14, 2018, in Bloomington
• Tickets (via our StubHub affiliate link)

Marquette’s Shaka Smart

The Hoosiers face off against one of the more decorated young coaches in college basketball with Shaka Smart, who is in his 17th season of Division 1 coaching at just 48 years old. Across those seasons, Smart has amassed a 372-183 (.670) record at three different stops.

Smart began his head coaching career with VCU, which enjoyed plenty of success while he led the Rams from 2009-2015. In six seasons, Smart led VCU to five NCAA Tournament appearances, with their best finish being in the Final Four in the 2010-11 season. Smart left VCU for Texas in 2015 and had a decent six seasons with them as well. Smart led the Longhorns to three tournament appearances, but did not make it out of the Round of 64 in those instances.

Smart moved closer to home to coach Marquette in March 2021 and has enjoyed a pretty successful stint so far. His best season on paper was in 2022-2023, where he led the Golden Eagles to a Big East regular season and tournament title and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. Smart was named Big East and AP Coach of the Year in that season. With Marquette, Smart has yet to miss the NCAA Tournament in the postseason.

Marquette’s results and roster:

Game Notes (via Marquette Athletics)

Defense Holds Serve While Offense Warms Up

• While Marquette’s offensive attack has had a slow start in each of the first two games, the defense has been consistent from the opening tip.
• The Golden Eagles have combined to hold UAlbany and Southern to just 35.9 percent shooting from the field overall and 10-of-47 (21.3 percent) from behind the 3-point line. Marquette has forced 36 turnovers, courtesy of 13.0 steals per game and turned those miscues into 16.0 points per contest.
• Offensively, halftime adjustments against the zone-heavy defenses haven’t been difficult to identify in the first two outings. In the opening 20 minutes of action, Marquette is shooting 35.9 percent from the floor and 25.7 percent from deep. Following intermission, however, the Golden Eagles are connecting on 56.3 percent of their opportunities from the floor and 40.0 percent from deep, allowing the squad to average 53.5 points per outing in the final 20 minutes of action.

Smart Reaches Century Mark At MU

• Fifth-year head coach Shaka Smart is 100-41 in just over four seasons at Marquette and with Wednesday’s win over Southern became the eighth team mentor in program history to reach the century mark.
• Smart joined Al McGuire (295), Bill Chandler (193), Tom Crean (190), Buzz Williams (139), Hank Raymonds (126), Steve Wojciechowski (128) and Mike Deane (100) in the century club at Marquette. He tied Crean for the second-fastest to 100 wins (141 games). Raymonds (1977-83), who replaced Al McGuire, reached the mark in 138 outings midway through the 1981-82 campaign.

Ross Making A Name For Himself Early

• While senior guard Chase Ross was a Preseason All-BIG EAST First Team selection, the 2025-26 campaign is providing his first opportunity to be the primary scoring threat for the Golden Eagles, and he has proven up to the challenge through two games.
• The Dallas native has been active at both ends of the court, contributing 19.0 points, 5.5 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game. He is shootng 60.0 percent (12-of-20) from the field and 12-of-15 (80.0 percent) from the charity stripe. Ross is on pace to join the program’s 1,000-point club (759) and will finish among the program leaders in career steals.

Marquette’s KenPom notable numbers:

(out of 365 teams)

Tempo – No. 60 (Offense No. 31 / Defense No. 163)

Offensive Efficiency – No. 66

• Marquette has gotten off to a fairly mediocre start offensively so far this season. Their effective field goal percentage sits at 53.5 percent (No. 113). They’re shooting 31.7 percent from three (No. 184) and 58.8 percent from two (No. 82).
• The Golden Eagles haven’t turned the ball over much in their first few game with a 14.8 turnover percentage (No. 81).
• They are pretty multi-dimensional offensively so far this season. Three-pointers make up 31.7 percent of their total point distribution (No. 147), twos make up 44.4 percent (No. 236), and free throws account for 23.9 percent (No. 113).

Defensive Efficiency – No. 23

• Early KenPom numbers favor Marquette defensively. Teams are shooting a 39.7 effective field goal percentage (No. 37). Teams are shooting 21.3 percent from three (No. 40) and 44.0 percent from two (No. 82).
• The Golden Eagles are pretty solid in the turnover battle. They hold a 16.7 percent steal percentage (No. 16) and a 23.1 percent overall turnover percentage (No. 53).
• Marquette has given up some second-chance opportunities with a 33.7 percent opposing offensive rebound percentage (No. 203).

OG’s Pick

Overall: 1-0

Once again, I’ll be keeping track of my personal picks throughout the season. Feel free to do the same in the comments.

This is a good early-season test for the Hoosiers, one that I think will ultimately come down to the defensive play of both teams. Marquette obviously flaunts some good numbers, but that’s also against some lower-tier teams. The three-point percentage is obviously a notable factor, so we’ll have to see what kind of looks the Hoosiers can get.

I like Indiana here. It’s certainly a game that can go either way, but I like IU’s offense to perform a bit better than Marquette’s. Like I said, keep an eye out for a defense oriented game, though.

PICK: Indiana 72 – Marquette 68

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