UT Martin vs. Marquette game recap: 3 things we learned from the Golden Eagles' season opening win

Perimeter Shooting

We saw flashes of it in exhibition and it appears to have translated to the regular season. The three-point ball is an actual part of the offense. The Golden Eagles opened the season going 10-23 from deep (43.5%).

Coach Wojciechowski seems to not only preaching the 3-point shot, but training 3-point assassins. Five players hit two shots from downtown tonight and no one took more than four shots from deep. The perimeter threat looks here to stay.

2013 Top 100 Recruits

Marquette's freshman class of 2013 looked promising, landing three Top 100 recruits. But one missed last season to injury while the others had less than stellar freshman seasons. But boy did they come to play for their sophomore debuts. The first half belonged to Deonte Burton, who came off the bench and led the team in scoring with 10 points. Duane Wilson, who missed last year, was second on the team in assists (4).

But most note-worthy was the play of JaJuan Johnson. He proved why he was worthy of starting over Marquette's only returning starter Derrick Wilson. Johnson put up a career high 20 points, missing just one shot inside the arc. Defensively, he was electrifying including a second half shot-block where UT Martin appeared to have a wide-open layup. Marquette's three Top 100 recruits from a year ago are beginning to play like it.

Frontcourt

The Marquette bigs really showed some resiliency today. UT Martin dominated them to start the game. UT Martin's center Akeem Joseph scored four quick points, while forward Myles Taylor was a force on the boards. Ten minutes into the game, Marquette as a team had just one more rebound than Taylor's six. But Marquette never folded. Steve Taylor Jr. locked down defensively, allowing Joseph just two more points in the final 37 minutes.

Offensively, someone had to step up with the departure of Davante Gardner to graduation. Juan Anderson answered the call. He put up 16 points on 50 percent shooting, and led the team with seven rebounds (three offensive). Sandy Cohen also knocked down two three's in the final five minutes to thwart off any comeback plans the Skyhawks might have had.

Marquette looked like they put it all together tonight. Now the question is, can they do it versus a power-six conference team? We will find out Tuesday, Nov. 18 when the Golden Eagles head to Ohio State to face the No. 20 Buckeyes.