Shaka Smart led No. 2 Marquette to a statement victory over No. 15 Vermont during the first round of the East region in the NCAA tournament.
The game looked like it was a close one, and Vermont cut the lead to just five points. Then sophomore Kam Jones somehow managed to score 18 consecutive points for Marquette. This was the key to a game-changing, 27-10 run for the Golden Eagles.
Jones had recorded just one point in the game before his massive hot streak. He finished with 19 points as Marquette defeated Vermont by a final score of 78-61. Nobody seemed happier for Jones than Smart:
Kam Jones had Shaka Smart literally jumping for joy in the 2nd half 🔥 @MarquetteMBB pic.twitter.com/tfmsr7UTsV
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 17, 2023
Jones finished the regular season with the lowest turnover percentage and one of the highest two-point percentages in the Big East conference.
Marquette has now won 10 games in a row and 15 of their last 16. But given the stakes, the run Jones went on during the NCAA tournament is perhaps the most impressive of the entire stretch.
IT'S 18 IN A ROW FOR KAM JONES 😱#MarchMadness @MarquetteMBB pic.twitter.com/JxKTRDaO5k
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 17, 2023
That being said, the hang time that Smart had during his celebration was pretty impressive as well. We shouldn’t be too surprised, though. Smart was a DIII point guard at Kenyon University and still leads the program in assists.
This game clearly meant a lot to Smart, though, who was fired up on the sidelines. He got to enjoy a milkshake after the victory, too, which broke Smart’s six-game losing streak in the NCAA tournament and represented his first win during March Madness in a decade.
