#MUBB Travels To Wisconsin Saturday Afternoon

The Marquette University men’s basketball team (5-4, 0-0 BIG EAST) plays its first true road game of the season on Saturday when the team travels down I-94 to Wisconsin (6-2, 1-0 Big Ten) for a 1 p.m. CT matchup. FS1 features the national television broadcast, with Jeff Levering (play-by-play) and LaPhonso Ellis (analyst) on the call. Following Saturday’s action, the Golden Eagles will conclude the non-conference portion of their campaign at No. 1/1 Purdue on Saturday, Dec. 13.

Series With Badgers Dates Back To 1917

MU’s all-time series with Wisconsin dates back to 1917, with the first meeting coming in MU’s second season of varsity competition.

Wisconsin owns a 71-60 edge in the previous matchups, with each squad enjoying an extended run of success at various points in the series. Marquette’s best streak came between 1969 and 1984 when the team claimed 15-straight wins and 19-of-21 overall.

Last season, the fifth-ranked Golden Eagles trailed 39-37 at the half at Fiserv Forum, but pulled away for an 88-74 victory on Dec. 7, 2024. Guard Kam Jones led all scorers with 32 points and guard Chase Ross chipped in 12 points and eight rebounds.

Marquette’s last victory at the Kohl Center came during the 2017-18 campaign, an 82-63 win on Dec. 9, 2017.

MU has met only DePaul more times (137) than Wisconsin in program history.

James Jr. Earns Looks To Extend Scoring Run 

Freshman guard Nigel James Jr. has scored double figures in six of the team’s nine outings this season, including a pair of back-to-back efforts of 20-or-more points.

In the last two outings against Oklahoma and Valparaiso, James Jr. contributed 20.5 points, 4.5 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game while shooting 48.4 percent (15-of-31) from the floor. He was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Dec. 1 for his efforts against the Sooners.

The Huntington, N.Y., native is the first true freshman at Marquette to record consecutive games of at least 20 points since Dawson Garcia in 2020-21. The last first-year player at MU to reach the mark in three-straight was Dwyane Wade (2001-02).

Ross’ Name Found Frequently In BIG EAST Stats 

Preseason All-BIG EAST First Team selection Chase Ross is ranked among the league leaders in seven-different categories.

Ross extended his career-best double-figure streak to nine games (previous best was four-straight in 2024-25) with 16 points against Valparaiso on Dec. 2 and after entering the season with a pair of career games of 20-or-more points in 102 outings, he now owns four in the first nine contests.

Through games of Dec. 3, the Dallas native ranks among the league leaders in scoring (1st, 20.3 ppg.), field goal percentage (3rd, .505), free throw percentage (9th, .797), assists (6th, 4.0 apg.), steals (t2nd, 2.00 spg.), assist-to-turnover ratio (14th, 1.80) and minutes played (2nd, 32.7 mpg.).

Only Butler’s Michael Ajayi and Georgetown’s Malik Mack are currently ranked in more categories (8) than Ross.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.