Well, That Was Fun

Really, does it get much better in early December than last night?  Surely you know by now, but Jae Crowder hit a late-game three to take MU to the victory.  It was a very entertaining game, featuring 15+ lead changes (mostly in the second half), and all kinds of highlights.  Plus, it was on the big stage of Madison Square Garden with the full muscle and might of ESPN behind it.  Last night's game and victory were BIG TIME.  So big that for a while Jae Crowder was the #1 trending topic on Twitter.*

*filed under phrases I never thought I would type two years ago.  For about ten different reasons.

Two minutes in the game, Marquette lost Otule for the game.  Without their best rebounder and space eater, MU got slaughtered on the boards and had trouble adjusting defensively.  And they still won.  Two games in a row, MU was down a starter in a big-time game.  And they still won.  Marquette really did not play all that great last night.  And they still won.

Despite all the positive vibes, there are a few reasons to be concerned.  For one, the bad defense showed up last night.  Last night's game was so entertaining because it was all offensively driven (well, that and the myriad of highlights from both teams).  Marquette just couldn't get stops.  After opening the season with four out of seven games of a defensive eFG% less than 40%, Washington had an eFG% of 53% for the game.  The Huskies shot 57% in the first half!  And when UW wasn't hitting on a high percentage of shots, they were grabbing an offensive rebound on almost half of their missed shots.  If that final shot from Jae doesn't go down, the entire story of this recap is "what the #$%^& happened to the defense?".

Can all that be attributed to the loss of Otule?  Certainly, UW was a bad matchup to lose your tallest player, considering they are one of the tallest teams in the nation, and offensive rebounding is one of their strengths.  However, Syracuse, UConn, and WVU are all taller.  Heck, UWGB and LSU are taller than Washington.  Marquette needs to get their defensive mojo back, especially if Otule misses any amount of time.  The extra days off until Saturday will help for sure.  Just remember that it's been the defensive improvement this year that has made the biggest difference.

Despite those comments, there's a LOT to like about this year's team.  They have added experience to their toughness and hustle.  As we put out there, last year's team probably doesn't win this game (Vanderbilt / Louisville).  Good morning, 8-0!

More kudos

• I've long said that I'll believe a freshman contributes when a freshman contributes.  Mayo is that freshman.  His missed dunk was embarrassing, but the kid is efficient, confident, skilled and aggressive.  He'll be a three year starter.
• Jamil looked good again last night for the second game in a row.  A few more of those shots go down (and they will), and we're talking about him being a monster.  If that rebound-tip doesn't get stuck, it's probably a Sportscenter highlight.  And that wasn't the only time I rewound a play of his wondering, "how'd he get that rebound?"
• Loved Vander turning his opponent into a poster.  It was an NBA-type play.

Media Links to satisfy your cravings

• From Enlund's blog, Post-Game Quotes from the team
• The official JSOnline recap
• Paint Touches posts their thoughts from the win
• Anonymous Eagle has a post-game jubilation thread
• Here's the view from Seattle
• Jeff Goodman has a great post about MU and toughness (should MU try to shed the label?)
• ESPN has a rapid reaction blog post

MU reaches 14th Sweet 16 in school history

Marquette played an inspired game tonight against Syracuse and defeated their Big East brethren to earn their 14th Sweet 16 in school history and their first since Tom Crean's Warriors went to the Final Four in 2003.

The final score read 66-62 and it was every bit that close for most of the contest. Syracuse jumped out to a 7-0 lead and lead by as many as 10, but Marquette fought back to tie the game at 21-21. The remainder of the contest saw 11 lead changes in this back and forth affair.

With the game tied 59-59 and under a minute to go, the Warriors got a huge break as Syracuse failed to in-bound the ball properly and committed an over the back infraction. MU ran a play and freed up DJO for the biggest three pointer in his life with 27 seconds remaining in the game. It was golden. Syracuse attempted to answer with a three of their own, but Scoop Jardine's shot was errant. MU salted the game away with four critical free throws from Junior Cadougan and Jae Crowder.

DJO led MU with 17 points and Jae Crowder chipped in 16. MU's defense forced Syracuse into 18 turnovers.

Marquette is now on it's way to New Jersey to play the North Carolina Tar Heels on Friday night.

ESPN Game recap

Box Score

MU grabs 35th NCAA Tournament win

Marquette defeated Xavier tonight, 66-55 to capture their 35th win all-time in the NCAA tournament and will advance to play Syracuse or Indiana State on Sunday.

The win makes Marquette 35-29 in NCAA Tournament games, tied now for 21st all-time in NCAA tournament wins.

Buzz Williams and staff had a fantastic defensive game plan which the Warriors executed to a tee in defeating Xavier. The Warriors kept XU's top scorers off balance all night and kept the Ohio crowd from any thoughts of backing the Musketeers.

Offensively, MU shot over 53% for the game and nearly 42% from beyond the arc. The Warriors will have to cleanup their turnovers for their game on Sunday...an ugly 15 turnovers would likely spell disaster in the 3rd round.

Here is the Box Score
Beyond The Arc on how the Big East's 11th best team topped the A-10's best
Todd Rosiak blogs on the big MU victory tonight
GoXavier.com on the Muskies' season-ending defeat

MUTV Sports: MU - Louisville

Brad Galli at MUTV Sports recaps the Warriors' 81-56 loss to the Louisville Cardinals in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament.

Hall nightmare scenario plays out with 85-72 win, but MU should still make NCAA with 1 BE win

Wow, not a good way to finish the regular season. Seton Hall picked up where they left off in the blowout of St. John’s going 11 of 18 on treys IN THE FIRST HALF to dominate MU in the regular season finale.

MU had a spirited comeback to get it back to single digits and almost foul out the Pirates entire team, but then ran out of gas for their second double digit loss of the season, 85-72. The press looked good but it was once again too much reliance on Jimmy Butler, who went 11 of 13 from the line to generate another 20 points to follow-up his 30 point performance vs. Cincy. Dwight Buycks 4 of 6 on treys was good too, but other than that it was a poor performance except for some scrappiness in the second half.

Before the South Florida game I painted the nightmare scenario that MU could go into Seton Hall 9-8 against a Seton Hall team that had been as good as MU since Hazell returned with a loss meaning a potential opening round matchup against a South Florida team that we don’t match up. Lose those two games and MU would fail to get the 10th Big East win I’ve said we needed since January to make the tourney.

Unfortunately it has played out so far, and depending on the late games, the foe could be a South Florida team that almost beat MU.

And I still believe what I’ve said since January – 10 wins and MU is in, 9 and they go NIT. The opening round of the Big East is likely an elimination game.

Opening round BE win gives MU bid on 4 of 5 criteria

If MU wins their opening round game against South Florida or Providence, they should still be in the tourney. I know you will count 6 criteria here, but really Good and Great wins are one criteria and I’m splitting them out. In fact, if we take the criteria one at a time, MU would actually still be a 9-seed or better on every criteria except RPI.

1. NIT based on RPI. Luckily the RPI has been dwindling in weight for several years, as it is the only factor on which MU is out of the tournament. A win would have given MU a final RPI of about 55, just out of the tournament but easily overcome by the other factors. However, the loss drops MU to an RPI of about 67th. Problem now is they will stay about the same even with an opening win in the BE tourney, while two wins would get them back up to about 56th. Lose in the opening round an MU probably drops out of the Top 80 in RPI, and that is too much to overcome despite how strong all the other criteria are.

2. 9-seed based on computers/eyeball test. I’m lumping the computer rankings and the eyeball test together because they really are similar. All the close losses against top teams make viewers believe a team belongs, and they are also the reason MU is 32nd in Pomeroy and even after dropping a few spots due to today’s loss should be top 36, or a 9-seed.

3. 8-seed based on Strength of Schedule. MU should finish with the 32nd best SOS in the country.

4a. 7-seed based on Good wins. Only 23 teams have more wins against Top 50 RPI teams than Marquette’s four over WVU, at UConn, Syracuse and Notre Dame. The other teams tied with MU with four top 50 wins are Cincinnati, Marquette, Memphis, Missouri, Texas A&M, UNC and USC, so put MU in the middle of that group and MU is a 7-seed.

4b. 3-seed based on great wins. What gives MU real bragging rights is that all four of those wins are against Top 25 teams. Only 13 teams can match MUs four wins over Top 25 teams, and about the same have even one road win against a top 25 team, so MU fits in as a 3-seed based on great wins.

5. 6-seed based on ZERO bad losses. The only tiny silver lining today is that Seton Hall is in the Top 100 due to their blowout of St. John’s so MU remains one of only 23 teams without a bad loss (non-top 100 team). Put MU at the end of this list and they are still a 6-seed; Cincinnati, Connecticut, Duke, Georgetown, Georgia, Kansas, Kansas State, Marquette, Maryland, Missouri, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, San Diego State, Syracuse, Temple, Texas, Texas A&M, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

Don’t get me wrong. With one win in the BE tourney there is a good chance MU slips to one of the play-in games as one of the last four teams selected. Further, this assumes the typical 2 to 3 spoilers win conference tournaments, but if 6 or 7 spoilers won their tourneys it could eliminate MU. So we definitely want to regroup and win two in the tourney to sleep easy, but the odds really are that one win gets us in.

MUTV Sports recaps another Senior Night loss

Marquette fell to Cincinnati 67-60 on a disappointing Senior Night for at the Bradley Center. Jimmy F. Butler's big night ---a career-high 30 points --- wasn't enough to overcome another disappointing defensive effort by the Warriors.

MUTV Sports' Brad Galli recaps the loss. Incidentally, this report Galli's final regular season home game recap as he too is a senior. Enjoy.

MUTV Sports recaps MU's win at UConn

MUTV Sports recaps tough loss at Georgetown

Another stellar post-game report from the crew at MUTV Sports.

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!

South Florida - Pace and the Press

To recap, a week ago we covered a guest post from Blackheart about how teams could break down MU's defense by slowing down the pace. In the first half, which ended with Marquette being down 31-24, any idea how effectively USF was able to slow down the pace?


Holy crap! If extrapolated, the first half was played at a pace of 48 possessions. Do you know how slow that is? (tangent, I went to look up the slowest pace in D1 and it's actually Wisconsin. That made me laugh. Because. Big. Ten. basketball. is. so. boring. and. Wisconsin. is. the. worst.) So the slowest-paced team in the nation averages 58 possessions per game, and even their slowest game was 50 possessions. The first half was at an even slower pace than that. cripes.

As predicted by Blackheart, Marquette's defense was terrible at such a slow pace. USF (mind you, a team that averages 1.01 ppp, scored 1.29 ppp in the first half, and had an eFG% of 79%!) Also, as John Pudner highlighted, USF was all over the offensive boards. The only good news for MU was that USF was sloppy with the ball.

Now, obviously Marquette rallied from 16 down to win, but instead of posting the 2H stats, I want to build more on the period during which Marquette was pressing. From Rosiak's blog post after the game, he mentioned that the press started around 14:18 left and MU down by sixteen. We ran the numbers from that point on until Crowder hit the final three of the game (1:36 left)

Yet again the press proved to be effective both offensively and defensively. During this almost thirteen minute stretch, MU held USF to 0.55 ppp and 30% eFG%. If the pace for this period is extrapolated to 40 minutes, it results in a tempo of 68 possessions. That's right around average.

Also, note that the press was actually less effective than the 1H defense at forcing turnovers. In addition, Marquette still was able to take remarkably good care of the ball, only coughing up a turnover once. In other words, the conventional wisdom about the press, where it causes more turnovers on both sides of the ball, was not accurate. The primary benefit for Marquette was to succeed in playing better defense and increasing the tempo.

Yet again we ask "Should Marquette Press More?". Here's your running tally for two games of featuring the press.


Solid numbers all across the board. Just about the only area that is worse is our opponents' Free Throw Rate. Good thing that's practically insignificant to defense. We also continue to believe that it's not a sustained defense, but definitely a strong counter (think first half, Buzz) to an opponent attempting to slow down the pace. To the question of if Marquette should press more... yet again the answer comes back "Yes".

Marquette rallies from 16 down to top USF

Well LL Cool J.... It was a comeback. Marquette rallied from a 16-point second half deficit to top USF 59-58 tonight in Tampa. The Warriors were down by as many as 11 in the first half and fell behind 40-24 with 17:18 remaining in the game, showing no signs of life. MU fans on Twitter were in a full-on meltdown, falling off the bandwagon at a record pace before the service mercifully ground to a halt (perhaps unrelated, perhaps not).

Nevertheless ..... from that point on the Warriors outscored the Bulls 35 - 18. The run was keyed by an aggressive, pressing defense (!!!!!!!!!) which forced 17 USF turnovers on the night and woke up MU's slumbering offense.

The Warriors' second-half offensive surge was highlighted by Buzz Williams' multi-talented forward combination. Senior Jimmy F. Butler, who struggled through the game's first 30 minutes, scored eight points and handed out a key assist during a six-minute stretch late in the second half.

But it was Jae Crowder who delivered the knockout blows. The Predator nailed a step-back three with 4:26 to play push MU into the lead 54-53, capping a frenetic 30-13 run. After the teams traded baskets Crowder nailed another step-back three to push the MU lead to 59-55 with just 1:36 to play.

From there the Warriors nearly gave the game away, missing six consecutive free throw attempts in the game's final 1:03. Ultimately USF's inability to handle MU's pressure - the Bulls coughed the ball up twice in the final 45 seconds -- was the difference in the game's uncomfortable final stages.

Butler finished with 12 points, six rebounds and five assists. Crowder had 14 points and four rebounds, while Joe Fulce was the only other Warrior in double figures with 10.

With the win Marquette improved to 15-9 on the season and 6-5 in the BIG EAST. USF fell to 8-17 and 2-10.

Defenseless Marquette falls at Villanova

Marquette kept its moral victory streak alive last night with a 75-70 loss on the road to the 12th-ranked Villanova Wildcats.

After falling behind by nine points at halftime and as many as 14 in the second half, the Warriors rallied to close the gap late. Regardless, show me a moral victory and I'll show you a losing team.

When all was said and done, Marquette was overwhelmed by Villanova's size, patience on offense, and its own poor defense which led to a remarkable free throw rate advantage for the Wildcats. Villanova connected on 29 of 33 free throws for the game while MU sank 13-14. Along the way Marquette struggled with foul trouble, including Jae Crowder's critical fifth foul with 2:32 remaining and the Warriors trailing by six.

The real story, as it always is for this team, was Marquette's porous defense. After a solid defensive performance in the first half where MU limited Wildcats to an eFG of just 43.3%, for the most part the Warriors' defensive effectiveness didn't make it out of the locker room after the break.

In the second half Marquette allowed an astonishing 1.23 points per possession (ppp) and an eFG% of 56%. Factor in Villanova's second half free throw rate (FTR) of 1.33 and it's easy to see why MU could not get closer than three points in the game's final 1o minutes. FTR is the ratio of free throw attempts to field goal attempts.

Still up for debate was a stretch in the second half where Buzz shook things up and went to a full court press. Between the 10 minute mark and 4:58 mark in the second half, this defensive scheme forced four Villanova turnovers, 25% of the Wildcats' turnover total for the game. Perhaps more importantly the pressure led to easier buckets for MU. Marquette whittled the Villanova lead from 14 points down to just three with five minutes to play, but was unable to overcome the deficit as the Wildcats lived at the line in the game's final minutes.

While the second half defensive adjustment showed promise during this five-minute spurt, MU's inability to string together a series of stops remains a derailment factor for this team. Ultimately the press was modestly encouraging but with MU's foul issues last night the benefits were somewhat mitigated to say the least. The overall defensive performance was still lacking.

Links Links Links

• AP recap
• Rosiak blogs on the loss
• Rosiak newspaper recap

Marquette takes out frustrations on DePaul

UPDATED

After a soul-crushing defeat is there any greater gift than seeing DePaul next up on the schedule? No sir, there is nothing better.

DePaul basketball ... it's how Big East teams get back on track!

Marquette beat DePaul senseless tonight, racing to a 94- 64 victory highlighted by forced turnovers, alley-oops and domination on the backboards. The Warriors used a convincing 16-2 run to build a commanding 46-29 halftime lead and never looked back. Out of the gate in the second half MU extended the lead to 73-41 with 10:25 to play ending any hope for a Blue Demons comeback.

The Fearsome Foursome led the way for the Warriors. Jae Crowder finished with 18 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 blocks. Jimmy Butler and DJO finished with 20 points each, while Dwight Buycks added a dozen. Vander Blue played his best game in Big East action finishing with twelve points and two assists while displaying the confidence MU fans noted in his play earlier this season.

Marquette's defense was stifling once again, dominating the Blue Demons throughout. The win marked the third straight game where the Warriors held the opposition to a points per possession (ppp) of 0.92 or less. Last night MU held DePaul to an ineffective 0.88 ppp while running its offense at a remarkable clip of 1.35 ppp. Marquette's efficiency on offense remains impressive, and the defensive numbers are trending positively. Don't look now, but MU has been the fourth best team during conference play (and that was before last night).

With the win Marquette moves to 13-6 overall and 4-2 in the Big East. After disposing of the league's dregs, the Warriors now embark on a stretch of four games against top 20 teams (two in the top 10) in the next two weeks. First up the Warriors head to South Bend to take on the Irish on Saturday. Following the Domer game, MU faces UConn and Syracuse at home before traveling to Villanova on Feburary 2.

Links galore

• Box Score
• The Warrior recaps the MU win
• Marquette routs DePaul, by Rosiak
• Rosiak blogged a recap as well
• Even with a blowout win you can't please everybody
• Anonymous Eagle recaps the win
• Chicago Trib on the drubbing
• AP recaps it

Warriors take the fight out of the Irish

What a difference a few days can make.

After turning in the worst defensive performance of the Buzz Williams era just two days earlier, Marquette re-emerged as a Big East contender last night. With new-found defensive toughness and a wicked-good offense the Marquette Warriors dominated 10th ranked Notre Dame on Monday night winning 79-57.

The Warriors put four players in double figures led by a career-high 21 points from Dwight Buycks, who was a perfect 5-5 from 3-point range. Jae Crowder finished with 18, Jimmy Butler added 15, and Darius Johnson-Odom chipped in with 13. The Fearsome Foursome keyed a dominant offensive performance for MU which hit on 53% of its shots overall and nearly 71% from deep (12-17). The efficiency geeks are still panting over MU's breathtaking eFG% of 65% (78% in the 2H!).

All of that offense is fine but the real difference last night was defense. MU played with an edge defensively and it showed. MU held the sweet-shooting Irish to a paltry eFG% of 42%. Notre Dame came in with a national top 15 offense -- averaging over 1.15 points per possession (ppp) -- and the Warriors held them to 0.90 ppp, the Irish's third worst offensive performance of the season. This was easily MU's finest defensive performance against a quality opponent this year.

Struggling from the field from the opening tip, Mike Brey's club could not free up leading scorers Ben Hansbrough and Tim Abromaitis. The duo, which combines to average more than 32 points per game, finished with a total of 19 points on just 17 attempts from the field. Marquette's defensive scheme forced the Irish to rely on third, fourth or even fifth options offensively and ND was not equipped to keep pace.

The moral of the story is that Marquette can play defense after all. Let's see them do it consistently.

Let's pile on. The loss was Notre Dame's most lopsided defeat in nearly three years -- and that loss also came at the hands of the Warriors. Marquette buried the Irish 92-66 on January 12, 2008.

With the win MU moves to 12-5 on the season and 3-1 in Big East play. Next up for Marquette is a trip to Louisville on Saturday.

Box Score
AP recap
Rosiak blogs a recap
Roiak's recap from the paper
Tom Noie of the South Bend Tribune recaps the Irish clunker
ESPN has a video post-game extra

Marquette win makes road teams 5-14 in BE play

Marquette finally showed some zone busting, going 7 of 11 on treys in the first half including contributions from the big men (Jae Crowder hit his first three treys, and Joe Fulce his only attempt). Road teams were only 4-14 in Big East play before Marquette’s win, and even when the road team was the higher rated team they were only 3-6. Here are the road results by biggest win to biggest loss so far this season:

1. St. John's beat West Virginia 81-71
2. Marquette beat Rutgers 73-65
3. Pitt beat Providence 83-79
4. St. John's beat Providence 67-65
5. West Virginia beat DePaul 67-65

6. Georgetown lost to St. John's 61-58
7. UConn lost to Notre Dame 73-70
8. West Virginia lost to Marquette 79-74
9. South Florida lost to Connecticut 66-61
10. Providence lost to Syracuse 81-74
11. South Florida lost to Seton Hall 64-55
12. DePaul lost to Georgetown 86-75
13. Notre Dame lost to Syracuse 70-58
14. Georgetown lost to Notre Dame 69-55
15. UConn lost to Pittsburgh 78-63
16. Rutgers lost to Villanova 81-65
17. Depaul lost to Cincinnati 76-60
18. Seton Hall lost to Cincinnati 70-53
19. Seton Hall lost to Louisville 73-65

Marquette overcame an uncharacteristic 12 first half turnovers by once again drawing fouls including getting four on Rutgers’ tough big man Gilvydas Biruta by early in the second half.

MU did again leave too many 3-pointers open, especially by James Beatty (24 points) who kept Rutgers close.

However, the fast pace favored MU throughout, as Darius Johnson-Odom (29 points) and Crowder (15 points and 6 rebounds) dominated play for a second straight Big East game. Jimmy Butler was again clutch when he needed to step up (16 points, the one player hitting clutch free throws at the end while the rest of the team missed). Junior Cadougan dished out 8 assists to top his 7 assists against Duke for an all-time high.

Vander Blue was finally matched up against Beatty late in the game to stop him down the stretch. Blue also made a great “senior” like play when he made a bad pass for a turnover, but ran to the other end of the court to go to the floor and steal it and call timeout to stop a potential comeback by Rutgers.

Last year Marquette started the season 0-5 on the road but tonight's win gives them a 2-1 record, with the only loss being by one point in a very tough venue at Vanderbilt.

Because RPI credits 1.4 wins for a road win and only 0.6 for a road loss, so in RPI calculations MU is 2.8-.6 on the road, and would only drop to 2.8 – 1.2 even assuming they lost at Pitt Saturday.

This win will most MU into a projected finish in the 50s in the final RPI, as even with the missed free throws late they easily out performed the 4-point spread as well as ever computer model, all of which picked a win by a few points or an 8-point loss (Realtime RPI).

Commodores edge Warriors in Nashville

Another quality opponent, another soul-crushing loss.

Marquette continued its unenviable run of close losses to good teams tonight, falling 77-76 to 24th ranked Vanderbilt in Nashville. The Warriors battled to take a 76-75 lead on Dwight Buycks' jumper with 19 seconds left but surrendered a bucket to the Commodores with 4.1 seconds remaining to set up the final sequence. After an MU timeout Darius Johnson-Odom dribbled furiously up the floor, lost control and turned the ball over to end the game.

Surely Marquette leads the NCAA in last second shots not taken.

With the loss MU falls to 9-4 on the season and heads to Big East play with exactly zero quality out of conference wins. The Warriors host West Virginia on New Year's Day.

Marquette shot an impressive 56% from the floor tonight and held the notable Commodore marksmen to just 26% from deep and 48% overall. Yet MU was unable to create a turnover advantage, connected on only 7 of 13 free throws, and as has been the case all season the Warriors struggled to control the defensive glass in key spots.

MU was led by Jimmy Butler with 15 points. Darius Johnson-Odom added 14, Buycks had 14, Chris Otule had a dozen while Vander Blue finished with 10 points.

Todd Rosiak blogs a recap.
Box Score.

Marquette sinks the Islanders

Marquette rolled to an 86-50 victory over Texas A&M Corpus Christi behind a career-high 21 points from freshman Vander Blue. A second half knee injury to senior forward Joseph Fulce - which appears to be serious - deflated the Warriors' spirit after the game however. With the win MU improves to 7-2 on the season.





MU victory tainted by Fulce injury, per Rosiak.
Rosiak blogs a recap.
Official MU recap.

DJO explosion saves 38-game win streak

Jimmy Butler and Darius Johnson-Odom netted 6 consecutive free throws in the final 30 seconds to survive 75-72 against UWM.

But make no mistake about it – if DJO had not simply played like the NBA player he is projected to be for the first time this year, UWM would have ended MUs 37-game win streak and there would have been no chance for the last second heroics.

Until Saturday night, DJO simply had not looked like the player projected to be the 38th player selected in the NBA draft after his senior season next year. (21 spots after Vander Blue, though we hope he is in the 2014 draft)

Warning to the Big East – he’s back! Just in time for bragging rights in Milwaukee.
Despite sitting several minutes dazed after an accidental hit to the nose, DJO hit 7 of 8 shots en route to 22 first half points, finishing with a career high 29 points on the night.

His hot hand from outside and ability to draw defenders and then kick out helped MU go 8 of 11 from beyond the arc in the first half to open a big lead.

However, MU continued to have trouble boxing out, including allowing consecutive offensive rebounds with 16 seconds left to cut the lead back to two points.

The only problem MU had experienced early in the season was leaving opponents open for 3-pointers. However, Gonzaga dominated for 15 offensive rebounds in the second half of the last game and UWM was able to pick up right where they left off.

MU has two creampuffs coming up, and will have to use those games to work on boxing out and guarding against the trey before Wisconsin comes to town December 11.

By the way, Rush the Court hosted a live blog on the game.

Media Links

• Despite the win, MU was disappointing tonight. Here's a recap of the flow of the game from muwarrior92.
• Anonymous Eagle delivers a thorough recap.
• Rosiak on DJO breaking out.
• Show me a moral victory and I'll show you a loss.
• Another JS recap.
• Rosiak's blog recap.
• UWM Panther blog recaps the MU victory.
• MU beats rival. Ok.

Gonzaga mauls Marquette

In what will be one of this season's most frustrating defeats the Marquette Warriors spit the bit tonight against the Gonzaga Bulldogs, losing 66-63 at the O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic in Kansas City.

Marquette never displayed its 'A game' tonight, falling behind early and trailing 42-33 at the break. The Zags shot lights out in the first half nailing six three-pointers including five by Steven Gray who finished with a team-high 20 points. The Warriors made adjustments at the half and Gonzaga failed to connect on a three-pointer in the game's final 20 minutes, but that adjustment was not without consequence.

Mark Few's Bulldogs found another way to keep MU at bay by owning the backboards in the game's crucial stages. To say that Marquette was destroyed on the glass would be an understatement; Gonzaga ripped down 15 of its 17 offensive rebounds in the second half. That is not a misprint. The Warriors were no match for the Bulldogs' toughness.

All told Gonzaga earned a 42-26 rebounding advantage and a startling 17-6 advantage on the offensive glass including the 15 they claimed in the second half alone. Despite the beat down in the paint Marquette closed the gap to just two points late in the game but failed to launch a quality shot as time expired.

Jimmy Butler led MU with 22 points and 5 boards. The senior ignited MU's late run, scoring 13 of the team's final 17 points including a three-pointer with 45 seconds remaining to bring Marquette to within two. Darius Johnson-Odom finished with 13 points while Jae Crowder added 10. For the game MU shot just 39% from the floor including an ice-cold 29% from three-point range.

With the loss MU falls to 4-2 on the season. Next up for MU are the UW-Milwaukee Panthers in the final (we hope) Bud Haidet Classic on Saturday.

AP Recap
Box Score
Gardner not close to 100% healthy
ESPN rapid reaction from Brennan
The Anonymous Eagle vents

MUTV Sports

Warriors fall to the Blue Devils in Kansas City

The Marquette Warriors sampled the bitter taste of defeat last night falling 82-77 to the top-ranked Duke Blue Devlis last night at the O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic in Kansas City.

The Warriors (4-1) have no time to grouse about the defeat, tonight they lace up the hi-tops once more as they face the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the 2010 version of the Jumpin' Jesuit Jamboree. The Zags fell to Kansas State 81-64 last night. Tipoff tonight is scheduled for 6:45 Marquette Standard Time on ESPNU.

After a shaky first half that saw Marquette head into the locker room trailing 40-31, the Warriors packed wallop during the first ten minutes of the second half. Led by the impossibly hot Darius Johnson-Odom who scored all 13 of his points in the second half, Marquette tied the game at 57-57 on a Jae Crowder jumper with 10:32 remaining in regulation.

If not for the sequence which followed in the next two minutes, MU might have won the game.

The Warriors turned the ball over on their next three consecutive possessions, two by senior Dwight Buycks, and surrendered a Blue Devils' three-pointer on a second chance opportunity as Duke quickly extended its lead back to 66-57 and held off MU late to secure the victory.

Jimmy Butler led MU with 22 points and six rebounds while Crowder finished with 15 points. Sophomore point guard Junior Cadougan chipped in with five points and a team-high seven assists against just one turnover. Big man Davante Gardner delivered nine points and four boards despite an injured left shoulder.

Box Score.
J-S game recap.
Rosiak blogs on the loss.
The Anonymous Eagle recaps the loss as well.