Shaka Smart backs up Dwyane Wade's 'special' claim for Marquette star
Yesterday at 04:21 PM
The Marquette Golden Eagles punched their ticket to the Big East Tournament semifinals on Friday with a thrilling, come-from-behind 89-87 win against Xavier this week. Following the win, Marquette head coach Shaka Smart lauded senior guard Stevie Mitchell who was instrumental in the win. Smart echoed praise heaped upon Mitchell from former Golden Eagles star Dwyane Wade, as per Big East reporter Ryan Cassidy.
"For as good as these two [Kam and Joplin] were, Stevie Mitchell won us this game. His spirit and his energy," Shaka Smart said following the Xavier win. "DWade said it the other day when he was on campus: 'He's special.'"
Even before the game, Marquette seemed like a shoe-in for theNCAA Tournament while Xavier is officially on the bubble. Dwyane Wade himself was in attendance as the Golden Eagles rallied from being down 14 points in the second half.
Stevie Mitchell, one of the stars of the game, is in his final season at Marquette. This year, he had been putting up the best statistical numbers of his college basketball career. Against Xavier, he finished with 16 points and five steals in 31 minutes of play. He shot 6-of-12 (50 percent) from the field.
This season, Mitchell appeared in 32 games for the Golden Eagles, all starts, at just about 27 minutes per game. He averaged 10.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 2.4 steals. Each of those numbers are career-highs. He shot 48.4 percent from the field, 35.9 percent from the three-point line and 73.2 percent from the free-throw line. His three-point percentage is a career-best.
Marquette's win to advance to the Big East Tournament pits them against Big East regular season champion St. John's. Marquette lost to St. John's in back in February during the regular season, a game that had Shaka Smart making a loaded admission. St. John's is the top seed in the tournament while Marquette comes in as the No. 5 seed.
The post Shaka Smart backs up Dwyane Wade's 'special' claim for Marquette star appeared first on ClutchPoints.
