Basketball Recap: Marquette Comes Up Short

Marquette was the 85-61 winner over Yorkville Christian when they last played one another back in December of 2023, but their luck changed this time around. The Marquette Crusaders might have been a little too into the holiday spirit, gifting the Yorkville Christian Mustangs an easy 79-54 victory. While losing is never fun, the Crusaders can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 533rd, while the Mustangs are ranked 157th).

Jayden Riley continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines for Yorkville Christian, going 15 of 20 en route to 34 points along with seven assists and five boards. The game was Riley's fifth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Tray Alford, who went 7 of 15 on his way to 19 points and four steals.

Marquette has traveled a rocky road recently having lost six of their last seven matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 4-6 record this season. As for Yorkville Christian, their win was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 7-3.

Marquette will take on Hall in a tournament on December 26th. Marquette has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last three games. As for Yorkville Christian, they wasted no time getting back out on the court and have already played their next contest, a 68-66 victory against Providence Catholic on the 21st.