Want to be a smarter Marquette fan during March Madness? Learn these basketball terms

It's the one month of the year when everyone becomes college basketball experts.

That one guy in the office starts bringing up KenPom efficiency rankings in every conversation. Family members fill out brackets based solely on nicknames or school colors.

The eighth-ranked Marquette men's basketball team (22-6, 13-6 Big East) finishes the regular season against Xavier (15-15, 9-10) on Saturday in Cincinnati. Then all thoughts turn to bracketology with the Big East Tournament next week in New York and the NCAA Tournament after that.

If the Golden Eagles can get healthy, especially point guard Tyler Kolek with his oblique injury, they can become a team that everyone talks about. But there are ways to tell if fans have been closely watching this team since the victory over Northern Illinois on Nov. 6.

In Shaka Smart's three seasons as head coach, he has taught MU supporters a new lexicon with "EGBs," "kills" and "skunks."

MU has an even more intricate language when it comes actions on the court. This is just scratching the surface of the Golden Eagles' vocabulary, but here are some terms you can sprinkle in conversations this March to make you sound like an educated fan.

Marquette offensive glossary

GET ACTION: A ball-handler like Kam Jones or Stevie Mitchell will pass the ball to a big man like Oso Ighodaro and then sprint toward him over the top for a handoff or a cut depending on how the defense plays it.

Why it works for MU: "It's a little different than a pick-and-roll because Oso actually has the ball," Smart said. "And so the coverage can tend to be different.

"For example, one of UConn's players, a backup big (Samson Johnson), is really good in a pick-and-roll if (the big is) setting a screen for (the guard) at jumping out and hedging. Well, if you do that and (the big) already has the ball, then maybe now you can drive if you're Oso. So it just changes things up. It also allows for different types of cutting as opposed to cutting over the top. There's different things you can do.

"So when you have a guy like Oso who's a really good decision-maker and passer, it opens up your options. Now, you do it with Ben Gold and you add in his shooting, that's even more of a reason to throw him the ball."

GHOST SCREEN: MU has different terms for ways to do this, but players and coaches didn't want to tip off the opposition by revealing them. A player runs toward a teammate like he is going to set a screen on a defender. But there is no contact, and the player setting the ghost screen can pop out or roll depending on the defense's reaction. MU's David Joplin is really good at sensing the defense's hesitation and pivoting into an open three-pointer.

Why it works for MU: "Basically you just try to get underneath and you fake like you're about to set a screen, then you just ghost at the end," MU assistant coach DeAndre Haynes said. "The defense doesn't have eyes behind their heads. So they don't know what's going on.

"Then the defender that's guarding the one that's setting the ghost screen, they're confused because they don't know what's going on. Whether they're going to switch it. If you ghost it early and you think someone's behind you but they're not, then you just use your speed to get past them."

HIGHWAY: What other teams call "pistol action." It happens early in the offense when a guard dribbles toward a wing player on the side of the court. A big man usually trails at the top of the key or the elbow. The guard and wing can run a dribble-handoff or a ghost screen, followed by a pick-and-roll or get action with the big man.

Why it works for MU: "It's just to cause confusion, basically," Haynes said. "You want to be aggressive on the side as much as possible and create as much confusion as possible.

"Whether you are attacking. Whether you're setting the screen or ghosting the screen. We have a lot of things we can do out of it to cause confusion. That's why I think we are so effective in it. We play at such great pace and great space on the floor that we create close-outs or create angles to where we can get to the basket."

SPAIN: MU has one of the most lethal pick-and-roll combinations with Kolek and Ighodaro. The Golden Eagles like to add another layer of complexity with Spain action that is common in the NBA and high-levels of basketball. After Ighodaro sets the initial screen, a shooter like Kam Jones then sets another screen on Ighodaro's defender, then Jones often pops to the top of the key. It creates open looks depending on what the defense tries to take away.

Why it works for MU: "Every team runs Spain" Jones said. "But it's obviously different people on each team doing it. And we have a big as unique as Oso that can catch and dribble and make a move and pass.

"So that makes that so much harder. We got Tyler that can make any pass and he's a threat to score. And I wouldn't advise leaving me open. That's a pretty good action for us."

Marquette defensive glossary

DOT HAND CLOSE-OUTS: When contesting a jump shot, Smart teaches doing that with a mirror hand. So a left-handed shooter is contested with a defender's right hand and vice versa.

Why it works for MU: "We want to contest 70% of a team's shots with our dot hand," Haynes said. "And when we usually do that, we make guys inefficient.

"When I was at other schools, coaches didn't care about which hand you contest with. But here we really focus on the mirror hand."

LOAD: This is basically just help defense. This chimes perfectly with Smart's overall philosophy of playing for each other.

Why it works for MU: "If you were guarding a guy like (MU's) Sean Jones who is really fast, you want to slow down the ball as much as possible," Haynes said. "You just want to be in a load and help.

"Some people call it 'gap.' Being in the gaps. We just call it being in a load. And just being there to cover for your teammates. So you got to guard the ball, but trust that your brother and teammates are going to have your back and taking up that space with long arms and not letting those guys drive on our players. You want to keep the ball out the paint as much as possible by being in your loads, and with long arms and in a stance and being in good positioning."

SCRAM: MU likes to play a switching defense, so sometimes a smaller defender can get caught on a much bigger opponent. To get away from a mismatch, a bigger weak-side defender can kick out the smaller one with another switch. The timing has to be quick or it can create open looks.

Why it works for MU: "Another situation is if I get beat off the dribble," Haynes said. "And the next guy whoever is closest to the basket, if they see me beat, they can take my man and we can all shift over and rotate and take the next closest man.

"If you watch Texas Tech, they was really good at that in the past couple years at scramming screens and rotating if your man is beat off the dribble. Well, I'm going to step up and take yours. Somebody rotate and take mine, and we just shift over and take another person.

"You just got to fix it and rotate. We work on that every day in practice and our guys actually became really good at it and understanding who to take when they see their teammate beat."