Nickel: Marquette's Tyler Kolek puts the finishing touches on his Big East player of the year campaign
Tyler Kolek led Marquette with 10 assists Saturday afternoon to help the Golden Eagles hold off St. John’s, 96-94, at Fiserv Forum, to go with his 18 points, three steals and a block.
This is what the best players do and this is one of the reasons why Kolek is one of the front runners for men’s basketball player of the year in the Big East Conference.
Xavier’s Souley Boum is the other leading candidate and both are worthy of the consideration.
So it will be interesting to see who wins, or rather, who won – since Marquette senior associate athletic director Scott Kuykendall said the ballots have already been cast.
Why? Because the POY voters are the Big East coaches.
The same Big East coaches – and voters – who picked Marquette to finish 9th in the league preseason poll all the way back in October, and that started a whole movement within Kolek and the Golden Eagles in the best possible way.
“F--- ‘em.” was Kolek’s famous response to the preseason poll.
And that’s been his response – on the court – with every game, since he’s had six or more assists in 27 of the last 31 games to balance out his scoring and rebounding.
Teammate Kam Jones played really well Saturday, leading Marquette with 22 points. And he was asked to revisit his sentiments being picked so low in the league five months ago now that Marquette put a bow on its dominant conference season.
"I'm pretty sure speaking for everybody else on the team when I say that felt good. To just you know, tell 'em to 'shut up,' " Jones said.
And the backcourt mate continued that theme when talking about Kolek.
"Last year he didn't have his best year scoring-wise, so the same people didn't have anybody on our team on any team, any mention, or anything in the Big East (pre) season awards,” Jones said. “So you know, like I'm pretty sure I can speak for him too.
“It's good to just tell them to ‘shut up.’”
Marquette won its 25th game of the year to put the wraps on their regular-season title. The Big East tournament is next and then the NCAA Tournament.
Kolek is ranked second in the NCAA in assists per game at 7.9, and it's impossible to imagine where Marquette would be this year without his presence.
"Just has a unique ability to see the floor, to understand the rotation of the defense, to understand what type of pass he needs to make, to understand where his teammates want the ball,” Marquette coach Shaka Smart said. “And his confidence has grown so much this year. It's been so much fun to watch.
“So excited about the trajectory that he's on. His teammates have always appreciated him; they've come to appreciate him even more because of the leadership that he brings. I feel like he's as good as any guard around."
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Marquette's Tyler Kolek tops off his Big East player of year campaign
