Marquette Basketball Friday Digest

Marquette's NCAA Tournament chances are very nearly on life support after back-to-back losses to Georgetown and St. John's this week. The Warriors now stand at 15-11 overall and 6-7 in the BIG EAST. MU has lost five of its last seven conference games and will look to get back on track on Saturday night when Seton Hall comes to town.

Here is a look at the week that was for Marquette hoops:

• All hope is not lost based on MU's strong strength of schedule, and the realization that (earlier this week) the Warriors were one of 321 teams which lacked a road win against the RPI top 25. As always, bracketology was on our minds.

• With a fan base that is increasingly agitated with the performance of this year's team and criticism of Buzz Williams rising with some, Dr. Blackheart took a look at Buzz relative to other coaches who were on the carousel a few years ago.

• MU had an important home game against St. Johns and fell in one of the season's most disappointing games. MUTV recapped the loss and Pudner took on the boo birds.

• Despite the loss the emergence of Chris Otule in the season's final month is noteworthy but with MU's recent struggles, problems at the point have come to the forefront.

Speaking of Marquette's point guard heritage ....

Marquette Basketball Friday Digest

After another week in the BIG EAST the Marquette Warriors stand at 15-9 overall and 6-5 in the conference. With just seven regular season games remaining MU remains on the right side of most of the 'bubble talk' and can take a big step forward this weekend with Sunday's game at Georgetown. More on that tomorrow.

Let's look back on the week that was:

• John Pudner took an early look at the USF game, noting the Bulls' bigs would look to dominate the offensive boards. We also offered an additional preview of the game.
• Pudner went onto look into the rest of the MU schedule -- and figures the regular season finale could be a play-in game of sorts for MU.
• With help from LL Cool J we recapped MU's stunning comeback at USF. MUTV Sports recapped the win as well.
• And yes we continued the beat the drum on the value of the press for this year's team. Rob kicked off the week with a look at the value of the press in the Villanova loss -- the numbers were intriguing.
• One is an anomaly, two is a trend. Rob's report from on the value of the press from USF game was terrific. Re-read it.
• We took a look at the possibility of a Korie Lucious transfer to MU -- but thankfully MU considered this possibility less than we did.

Finally, Brad Galli completed a terrific video on the role of the Marquette team chaplain, Fr. William Kelly. Enjoy and Ring out Ahoya!

Marquette Basketball Friday Digest

Here's a quick look back at the week that was for the Marquette Warriors who now stand at 14-9 overall and 5-5 in the Big East. With eight regular season games left MU still has a puncher's chance at an NCAA bid though the lack of a quality road win remains an albatross for this bunch. The Warriors are off through next week when they travel to USF on Wednesday, February 9 followed by a trip to Georgetown on Sunday, February 13.

Let's look back on the week that was:

-- MU started the week with a National Marquette Day victory over Syracuse.

-- John Pudner noted that MU's three wins over top-25 RPI teams strengthened MU's NCAA chances while we also noted that the fun with bracketology is just beginning.

-- Dr. Blackheart joined us again for a post about pace and the rest of the schedule -- and rightly figuring that the way teams could continue to break down MU was to manage the pace better. This is something we'll look into again down the line.

-- DJO's fine performances in Big East play deserved attention -- this guy was quite a find by Buzz.

-- The MUTV Sports team rocked it out once again.

-- Heading into Villanova, Pudner figured it would take one of MU's best performances to-date in order to win. I was not confident of a victory but expected a close game. Ultimately Pudner was right, MU didn't play at a high level and fell 75-70 to Villanova.

Additional updates of note:

• Buzz Williams is aggressively recruiting for 2011 roster help through the winter. Todd Mayo, the younger brother of O.J. Mayo, is considering Marquette among a host of other schools. Details on Mayo and his recruitment are here.
• 2012 stud and local product J.P. Tokoto talks about recruiting, Marquette and Buzz Williams with Fox Sports.
  
• Buzz is also active with 2012 kids including 6'10" A.J. Hammons.
• 2011 signee Juan Anderson is featured in this article and video. Check it out.
• When in doubt MU should wear white jerseys. The team is 42-3 in the classic whites since the 2007-2008 season.
• Marquette graduate Steve Novak is looking for a fresh start in the NBA Development League.
• Marquette graduate Wesley Matthews was selected to play in the upcoming NBA Rookie/Sophomore Challenge Game during the NBA All-Star Weekend.