Marquette, MI – January 18, 2022 – The Marquette Redmen faced off against the Sault Ste Marie Blue Devils in their home opener on Tuesday. The 1-3 Redmen coming off against a strong showing against Escanaba looking to use the tough loss to build up a win against the 3-4 Blue Devils. Tyler Young was on the call with the game on Fox Sports Marquette 105.1-99.9!
Q1: Marquette won the tip to start things off against the Blue Devils. Each of the teams first possessions ended in a turnover. After a couple of back and forth possessions, Jonas Bicik put the Redmen on the board for the first points of the game. Both of the teams were playing aggressive defense with steals for each. The Blue Devils were finally able to capitalize on the opportunity and get themselves on the board as well.
The Redmen stole the ball away and looked to set up some offense. A lot of ball movement and a rebound by Bicik all led to yet another turnover for Marquette. Sault Ste Marie wasn’t able to get any rhythm as Marquette tipped a pass, and Justin Jurmu hustled down to put it off the glass for another two. Marquette was able to shut down the lane for the Blue Devils. Yet another turnover for the Blue Devils led to a Jordan DeMay layup and the Redmen built their lead.
Marquette HuddleSault Ste Marie looked to climb back by shooting from the outside. However, they weren’t successful and Marquette was able to pick up the rebound. The teams battled back and forth with physical play. Carter Oshelski was fouled and went to the line for the Blue Devils. He went two for two to bring the score to, 6-4 in favor of Marquette. Bicik handled a great pass inside to put it off the glass to get the easy layup for the Redmen.
Marquette’s defense was relentless, and their rebounding was a big part of their first quarter success. Sophomore Jack Quinell was able to get a couple points for Marquette before causing yet another Blue Devil turnover. The Soo started to attack the net a bit more as the quarter was winding down. Marquette’s defense shut down the Soo’s attempts of scoring and closed the quarter, 10-4 in favor of the Redmen.
Marquette vs Sault Ste MarieQ2: Marquette opened up the quarter with a quick four points from David Eberhard. The Blue Devils were unable to find an offensive rhythm as The Redmen defense was suffocating. Jonas Bicik was able to get another bucket after the Soo turnover, and Marquette started to take control with a score of 16-4.
The Redmen kept their foot on the gas as Bicik was able to get another bucket. Marquette’s defense caused yet another couple turnovers and both Bicik and Eberhard turned them into points for the Redmen while keeping the Soo scoreless up to that point. Callen Campbell was able to end the Blue Devil scoring drought to register four points for the Soo. Marquette answered back with a momentum shift of their own and building on their lead, 24-8.
Campbell had the hot hand as he scored the Soo’s first six points of the quarter. Marquette dominated the boards and had a lot of second chance shots. David Eberhard was able to put back two points for Marquette and continue to pull away, 26-8. That was until the Blue Devils put up five points with three of them coming from Dominic Haller.
Both of the teams went back and forth with scoring for a bit, but Marquette was able to keep the upper hand. The Blue Devils found themselves in the bonus ad Haller went to the line for the one-and-one. After going 2-2 the Soo rebounded the shot attempt from Marquette and Carter Oshelski splashed a three to try and bridge the gap. The half ended with Marquette 33-20
Halftime: Marquette 33, Sault Ste Mare 20
Sault Ste Marie HuddleQ3: Marquette had possession to start the second half and weren’t able to do anything with it. After a few possessions of each team, David Eberhard tallied the first points of the half for Marquette. The Redmen had good looks at shots, but couldn’t get the ball to fall. The Blue Devils were looking to crack the code against the Redmen defense, but were unable to get on the board.
The Redmen kept shooting however and their rebounding made up for failed shots. Although with all the shooting going on something had to fall, and Jordan DeMay finally registered a three for Marquette. The two teams went back and forth for sometime with Marquette getting the better of the exchange. They closed the quarter out with a 22 point lead, 47-25.
Q4: The Redmen yet again struck first in the quarter, and kept the Soo quiet with great defense. The Blue Devils tried to get back on track with a 2-on-1 scenario ending with Max Scott getting the easy layup. Marquette had a pass stolen away that led to another two points for the Blue Devils by Reilly Cox.
Jonas Bicik threw up a three pointer that didn’t go it, but good rebounding by the Redmen led to him laying two instead. The Soo’s Campbell answered back with a two of his own just inside the free point line. Marquette dominated the paint and the boards as they had second chance shots all night long.
Marquette maintained that 20 point gap throughout the final minutes of the game. Justin Jurmu landed a floater to cushion their lead a bit more. The Blue Devils weren’t going down without a fight, as they continued to battle and shoot the ball. Jonas Bicik for Marquette went up strong with the ball looking for the dunk, but opted for the lay up. The Soo trailed by a score of 60-35 with just over two minutes left to play.
Defense for the Redmen did not let up at all in the final minutes of play. After a full line change for Marquette, the Soo was able to draw a foul and bring Max Scott to the line. Scott went 1-2 at the line and Marquette got the rebound but lost it back to the Blue Devils. Joe Gravelle was able to get two on the board after getting his own rebound for the put back for the final points of the game.
FINAL: Marquette 60, Sault Ste Marie 39
Joe Boogren Player of the Game: Jonas Bicik 16pts, Marquette
Marquette is back on the road for their next game against Petoskey on Monday! Join Luke Ghiardi with the action on 103.3 WFXD. The game has a 7pm tip time!
