"My rule was I wouldn't recruit a kid if he had grass in front of his house.
That's not my world. My world was a cracked sidewalk." —Al McGuire

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Warriors Start Final Five with W @Georgetown

After the game, Buzz Williams said "We went 11-2 in the first 13 games of the Big East. Every week, 25% of the questions people ask me is 'yeah, but what are you going to do those last 5 games?'"

Williams' Warriors answered that question: Start off with a win. On the road. When no one thought they could sweep Georgetown.

Marquette started the brutal 5 game stretch today by beating the Hoyas 78-72 on the road. Senior leadership proved too much for the Hoyas, with Wes Matthews pouring in 23 and Jerel McNeal following closely with 22 and 7 assists.

Lazar had an amazing double-double, 11 rebounds, 17 points and Jimmy Butler snagged 6 crucial rebounds, plus 8 points. All of them could have been considered for MVP of the game, with their contributions.

The game was a see-saw battle through the first 32 minutes. The final 8, Marquette slowly outlasted Georgetown, playing tight defense, nurturing a 2 point lead into a 4 point lead, into a 6 point lead, outscoring GTown 17-10 over the final stretch, not counting an uncontested 3 as time expired and the game decided.

Georgetown sinks to 5-9 in the Big East, their NCAA chances slipping away, despite their schedule, which is the 3rd toughest in the country. One could see them winning the NIT with their talent, unless they go on a serious run in the BET.

Marquette is now 12-2 in Big East play, with 4 games to play. They will fly home tonight, if the Milwaukee airport stays open after 8" of snow and will take on #1 Connecticut on Wednesday at the sold out Bradley Center.

Short AP Recap
ESPN Box
AP Photos

5 comments:

Hunt said...

Can someone that was at the game confirm this: I thought I heard "We Are Marquette" being chanted from the MU fans in attendance at the end?

Great win. These next four games, which may be the toughest 4 games in a row any team has played in the country this year, will tell us just how great this team really is. This is going to be fun.

Unknown said...

YES I WAS THERE AND WE WERE CHANTING
WE ARE MARQUETTE

Anonymous said...

It sounded like, "We are GU" to me.

Sure wish we hadn't choked against South Florida.

Unknown said...

I cannot believe no one mentioned the commentators calling the Golden Eagles the Warriors. Love it! I think Burke should thrown down Thabeet early in Wednesday game. Thabeet is a wuss, lets get him rattled.

JohnPudner said...

Thank you James - I so meant to log on and mention that. When I watch games on TV I am way to intensely focused on the screen to blog until the game is over, and it slipped my mind.