Kam Jones gets triple-double as Marquette ends Purdue’s streak

MILWAUKEE – Kam Jones had 17 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists as No. 15 Marquette defeated No. 6 Purdue 76-58 on Tuesday night to end the Boilermakers’ 39-game regular-season nonconference streak.

Purdue (4-1) had not lost a regular-season nonconference game since falling 58-54 at Miami on Dec. 8, 2020, compiling the fourth-longest such streak in NCAA history. The record is held by Syracuse, which won 52 consecutive non-conference games in the regular season from December 17, 2008 to December 17, 2012.

Before Tuesday, which marked his 108th career game, Jones had never had 10 rebounds or 10 assists in a game.

It was his first fight since learning of the death of Terry Tippett, who coached Jones for his first year at Evangelical Christian in Memphis, Tennessee.

Tippett died Saturday at age 79. He won six Tennessee state championships at three different high schools during a remarkable coaching career that ended in 2018, following Jones’ freshman season at Evangelical Christian.

“I really wanted to dedicate this game to him and dedicate the rest of the season to him,” Jones said.

Jones’ triple-double was the third in school history and the first since Dwyane Wade had 29 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists as Marquette beat Kentucky 83-69 in a regional final in 2003 to earn its most recent Final Four appearance.

“It’s an honor to be in that type of company,” Jones said.

Marquette’s only other triple-double came when Tony Miller had 18 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists against Wisconsin on December 31, 1994.

Jones’ 13 rebounds and 10 assists were both career highs, showing how the 6-foot-5 senior is expanding his game.

He led Marquette (5-0) in scoring each of the last two seasons, averaging 15.1 points for the 2022-23 Big East championship team and 17.2 points for the 2023-24 Sweet 16 squad. But he played a complementary role to 2022-23 Big East Player of the Year Tyler Kolek and Oso Ighodaro, both of whom were selected in the second round of this year’s NBA draft.

With Kolek gone, Jones needed to develop into more of a distributor. He’s scoring 22.6 points per game this season, but he’s also averaging six assists. He has never finished a season with more than 2.4 assists per game. match.

“He’s always had better ability as a playmaker than people might think, but his role was a little different when we had Tyler and Oso because those guys were such good passers and distributors and we needed him to think , score, score, score,” Marquette coach Shaka Smart said. “We still need him to score, but he also has the ball in his hands more and we need him to create opportunities for other guys.”

Purdue coach Matt Painter, whose team faced Marquette for a third straight season, noticed the difference in Jones’ game.

“He came here as a shooter,” Painter said. “Now he’s a player.”

Jones was keen to get others involved early in the game. He had just three points but six assists and seven rebounds in the first half. Ten of his 17 points came in the final 13 minutes of the game as Marquette extended its lead.

“They say what’s done in the dark will come out. I was in the gym with Coach watching film — watching film before games, watching film late nights, early mornings, constantly trying to figure out ways to get better at. That’s the name of the game.”

Marquette guard Kam Jones

He finally got the 10th assist to complete the triple-double by finding Stevie Mitchell for a corner 3-pointer with 51 seconds left.

“He was like a seasoned veteran tonight,” Painter said. “He didn’t kill us before he had to, you know what I mean? He didn’t come out and shoot 30-foot pull-ups or take bad shots. We did a good job, gave him a lot of attention and the game kind of went his way and then suddenly he was picking his spots at the right time and he was dominating the game in other areas.”

Jones’ ability to impact the game in many ways other than scoring reflects the work he has put into becoming a more complete player.

“They say what’s done in the dark will come to light,” Jones said. “I was in the gym with Coach watching film — watching film before games, watching film late nights, early mornings, constantly trying to figure out ways to get better. That’s the name of the game.”

The Associated Press and ESPN Research contributed to this report.