Marquette’s Shaka Smart, hands out breakfast to students on first day
Marquette men and women’s basketball coach Shaka Smart, along with Marquette president Mike Lovell and head coach Megan Duffy, handed out free breakfast to students on the first day of class.
Less than 24 hours after leading the No. 4-ranked Marquette men’s basketball team to an impressive victory over the No. 1-ranked Kansas Jayhawks in the semifinals of the Maui Invitational, Shaka Smart and his team are preparing to take on the No. 2-ranked Purdue Boilermakers in the championship game.
With a successful track record and an undefeated record, Marquette is looking to defeat another top-ranked team and make history by taking down two top-ten teams on consecutive days. Against Kansas, the team’s suffocating and active defense created havoc, and now they must face the challenge of going up against Purdue and their star player, Zach Edey.
Edey, the reigning national player of the year, is off to a great start averaging 22.0 points and 10.8 rebounds per game. The game is being touted as a potential Final Four preview with both teams having national title aspirations.
The highly anticipated game was scheduled to start at 4 p.m. but will begin 11 minutes later than planned, following the third-place game featuring Kansas and Tennessee.
Basketball fans will be able to catch the game on ESPN or through various streaming services and TV providers. Local radio stations and satellite radio will also be covering the game.
The betting odds for the game have Purdue as the favored team, but Marquette is expected to put up a tough fight based on their strong performances so far this season.
Marquette will also look to secure its second victory against Purdue, with the two teams having played three games in the past six seasons.
As the highly anticipated a championship game that is part of the Maui Invitational, fans are eagerly awaiting the outcome as Marquette and Purdue battle for victory at 4 p.m.