MUTV: Marquette 67 West Virginia 61

WINNING .. SO MUCH BETTER THAN LOSING.

I've gone through my share of Bradley Center losses and let me tell you: Winning is so much better than losing.

Staring down a three-game losing streak and a sub-.500 Big East record, the Marquette Warriors were tougher down the stretch than the Syracuse Orange, taking home a resounding, surprising, exhilarating monkey-off-their-back 76-70 victory on National Marquette Day.

The sold out Bradley Center crowd watched Jae Crowder lead MU with 25 points and seven boards .. but it was the pair of Jimmy Butler three-pointers in the games's final five minutes and a key Chris Otule block in the games closing moments that secured the clutch victory.

With Marquette clinging a 60-59 advantage with just about four minutes to play, Butler nailed a CLUTCH three-pointer as the shot clock expired to push the MU lead 63-59 with 4:05 remaining.

At the 2:29 mark, Syracuse tied it up and the clear thought going through Warrior Nation was .. "here we go again."

Not. So. Fast.

JFB and DJO connected on back-to-back 3 pointers to push the MU lead to 72-66. With MU holding a 73-68 lead in the game's final 40 seconds Otule delivered a clean block on a Scoop Jardine layup to preserve the lead. All told the Warriors were ferocious down the stretch, delivering a 10-4 run in the game's final two minutes to secure the 76-70 win. As DJO dribbled out the final seconds, the Bradley Center was rocking a well earned victory on National Marquette Day.

Marquette shot an impressive 52% from the floor this afternoon and made a laudable 24-33 from the free throw line while the Orange attempted just 14 freebies connecting on just eight.

While Crowder led with 25, Jimmy F. Butler finished with 19 points and Darius Johnson-Odom added 17 on just seven shot attempts (7-7 from the free throw line). Dwight Buycks turned in a solid floor game with six points, eight assists and five boards.

With the victory MU improves to 14-8 overall and 5-4 in the Big East.

Clutch. Seriously clutch.

• Box Score
• AP recap + podcasts of Buzz, Boeheim, DJO and JFB.
• Rosiak on the clutch MU win.
• MU's win has the Cuse teeting on absolute collapse.

MUTV Sports delivers a recap

MU exhibits new talent, wins by 30

Marquette took to the Bradley Center for the first game of 2010, an exhibition versus St. Johns, a D3 team out of Minnesota.

Some bullet points:

• Starters: Fulce, Butler, Otule, DJO, Buycks.
• Buycks started as PG .. Junior Cadougan was riding pine until the last few minutes of the first half.
  
  
• Jae Crowder was the first man off the bench, followed by Vander Blue.
• Crowder had a double double, 15 and 10.
• Crowder and Otule combined for 27 points. When was the last time MU's interior guys combined for 27? And 19 rebounds? (Maybe the last time we played a D3 team, yeah. Let me be excited for a few more minutes, ok?)
  
  
• Sign me up for the Jae Crowder fan club.
  
  
• The team shot poorly, in general. Jimmy Butler, 2-7, Buycks, 2-10, Vander 1-5. Jimmy went 5-10 from the charity stripe. (!!!)
• Reggie Smith .. 6th man of the game. He was in the game about 5 possessions and had 6 points, ended with 8. He lead the team with 7 assists and zero turnovers in his 14 minutes. Mind you, that was against St. John's, and not the Big East St. John's.
  
• Jamail Jones 8 points, 2 boards in 7 minutes. There's a lot to like in those numbers.
• When Frozena was in the game, we outscored St. John's 10-2. He's a difference maker, baby.
  
  
• Junior Cadougan? 11 minutes, 5 points, 1 assist. Really.
• Erik Williams? 8 minutes, 0 points, 1 rebound. Really.

Full stats
Photo Gallery

Buzz post-game:

ROAD WARRIORS! Marquette wins 5th straight on road, last three in OT

With Dwight Buycks at home in Milwaukee sick, and Erik Williams and Junior Cadougan combining for only three minutes, Marquette basically had to go 45 minutes with only six players against 10 for Seton Hall. No problem – even with Jeremy Hazell scoring 11 points in overtime, MU won their 5th straight road game including third in overtime in the last eight days. With the win, Marquette joins Syracuse as the only team to win 5 straight Big East road games this year. The only five teams to win more than two straight road games this year are:

1. Syracuse 8 (chance for 9 against Louisville)
2. Marquette 5
3. Villanova 4
4. Pittsburgh 3
5. Louisville 3 (will try to make it 4 at Marquette Tuesday)

While Buzz won’t want to hear this - the win goes a long way to ensuring an NCAA bid. The win clinched a first round bye in the Big East tournament, which eliminates any chance of an embarrassing loss to DePaul in the opening round. Now the worst case is for MU is to close with losses to red hot Louisville and Notre Dame teams and a team coming off a first round win in the Big East. Winning even one of those three would certainly guaranty a bid, as no Big East team has ever been denied a bid after a 20-win season, and even with two more losses MU would finish the season 9-3. (Last 12 games is not an official stat anymore, but the Selection Committee looks at the final stretch of however many games they believe are relevant).

MU also cracked the RPI top 50 with the win today, improving to 49th, while the winner of the MU-Louisville (33rd RPI) game Tuesday will have their 20th win and take over sole possession of 5th place in the Big East. A double bye is unlikely, as MU would have to win both and West Virginia lose at home to Georgetown and at Nova to end their season. (OK, Pitt could lose at home to both Rutgers and Providence, but really…)

At halftime of the CBSSports telecast of Lville’s two-point win at UConn, commentators speculated that the Big East could get nine invites with the recent losses by bubble teams.

For the third straight game MU pulled out the overtime win despite the road rims being cruel on the 3-pointer. MU entered the road swing first in the country on 3-point percentage, but had fallen to 5th. Today MU hit the first 6 treys of the game, but went 3 of 19 the rest of the way.

Cubillan to the rescue when treys stop falling

The answer was an unusually aggressive David Cubillan, who drove through the defense three times in a row for contested inside baskets, and then with 14:49 left in the game did it for a fourth time and turned it into a 3-point play when fouled. It was also Cube who broke MUs stretch of 10 straight missed threes when he hit two in a row with 7:41 and 5:22 to go in the game. He then started the overtime with another 3-pointer just 25 seconds into overtime to lead to give MU a lead they would never give up. Speaking of which, just how good is Lazar Hayward at winning jump balls? He won both the opening tip-off and the overtime tipoff again to set up Cubes OT trey.

MU again overcame getting dominated inside, making another big man look like an All-American as Jeff Robinson went 11 of 15 inside to score 25 points as Seton Hall won the boards 35-22.

Lazar’s steal at 1:31 saves game as MU wins turnover battle

However, in a battle between the two best teams in the conference at the turnover battle (MU +4.3, SH +3.7), MU again won the turnover battle behind 7 steals. None was bigger than when Jordan Theodore led a 3-on-1 break with the score tied 65-65, and with 1:33 left in the game Lazar made one of his patented steals. The big man with the quickest hands around flicked the ball out of Theodore's hands and off the guard's thigh, then took the ball away for a steal to save the day. (an almost identical play to his strip of Greg Monroe to preserve the Georgetown game).

Lazar also rejected three shots – I’m not sure the last time an MU player did that.

Even with Buycks out, 6 players contribute scores

But once again the story was balanced scoring. Joe Fulce hit both of his shots, and the five other players scored at least 13 points.

Cube, Hayward, Butler, Fulce and DJO all hit at least half of their two-pointers, and Acker went 2 of 4 on 3-pointers to stay right at 50% on treys.

Again, MU was money at the line, hitting 10 of 12 in overtime to maintain the lead against Hazell’s barrage despite not having a field goal after Jimmy “Money” Butler’s shot with 3:24 to go. He led the free throw effort with a 7 of 10 game, and his drives to the hoop now make him 6th in the country in free throws taken.

Hayward (23 points), DJO (16) and Cube (16) combined to go 13 for 21 on two-pointers, normally a weakness for MU. The biggest was from Lazar, who went between two trees to put in a tough inside shot with 33 seconds left in regulation.





Box Score

MU Thumps USF .. Streak at 5

With its 5th win in a row, Marquette claimed sole possession of 6th place in the Big East today, beating the USF Bulls 63-52 in front of an 18,000+ crowd at the Bradley Center.

Mo Acker went 6 for 9, scoring 14 with 6 assists. Lazar had a double double with 18 points and 14 boards. Jimmy Butler chipped in 15.

USF's Dominic Jones, averaging 22ppg, was held to 16, after "guaranteeing" four Bull wins in a row.

Official Box Score

Slideshow:


Post-game Presser:



Lazar:

Win pulls MU within 1 game of 4th place, double-bye (Pomeroy predicts 4th place finish for first time)

MU dazzled a national TV audience (ESPN2) for 24 minutes against DePaul, as JC transfers DJO and Dwight Buycks combined to shoot 10 of 15 from the floor and 12 of 15 from the line for a very efficient 21 and 14 points respectively as MU dominated and raced to a 53-27 lead with 14 minutes to go.

The two showed all the excitement of two players who have stepped in to instantly fill the shoes of the Three Amigos, but also reminded everyone they were first year players as they combined for 8 turnovers in 46 minutes. Hopefully most people changed channels at that point, because the final 14 minutes was pretty dreadful, with MU continually struggling against a DePaul press. Outside of DJO and Buycks, the team shot only 9 of 35 from the floor, and outside of great runs at the beginning of both halfs, DePaul won 24 minutes of the game by a 58-24 margin.

It was enough to revenge the loss at DePaul, and with Dominique Jones dominating Georgetown for another 22 second half points (he is now averaging 35 points a game during USF’s first ever 4-game winning streak in the Big East), both MU and USF are in great positions for a final run.

Just 10 days before meeting at the Bradley Center, USF and Marquette not only pulled to .500 in the Big East, but amazingly both have pulled to within one game of 4th place in the conference – the final spot for a double-bye in the Big East Tournament.

On January 13, USF was 0-4 and Marquette was 1-3 in Big East play. However, if you look at their 5-5 marks, and the remaining schedule, both teams have a legitimate shot at the coveted double-bye and 4th place finish. Georgetown’s loss tonight pushes them to 6-4 in fourth place with a tough schedule left with Nova, Syracuse, at Louisville and at West Virginia still on the schedule. In short, it is likely that the winner of next Saturday’s USF at MU game will control their own destiny to 4th place – particularly with Marquette holding the tie-breaker if they can catch Georgetown for the 4th spot.

RealTime RPI (http://realtimerpi.com/bin/rtr/rtrank?type=rpi&gender=1&tid=156) predicts Georgetown will weather the tough schedule to still finish 14-4 in the Big East and easily in 4th place, while Pomeroy (www.kenpom.com) predicts the Hoyas will finish 11-7 and MARQUETTE will do the same and win the tie-breaker due to the head-to-head over Gtown to claim 4th place.

Looking at the six teams within one game of 4th place, with their games remaining and * to indicate a home game, + to indicate a game in which both RealTime and Pomeroy pick a win, and ++ indicating both picking a double digit win (? = RealTime and Pomeroy disagree on the winner, and – indicates predicted loss) you can see the advantage MU has in having all four tough games behind them and potentially owning EVERY potential tie-breaker for the 4th place spot if they play well down the stretch:

Georgetown 6-4 currently – Nova*+, Prov+, Rutgers+, Syracuse*?, Lville?, ND++, WV-, Cincy*++. (Pomeroy predicts 11-7 and 5th place behind MU, RealTime predicts 14-4)

Pittsburgh 6-4 – SH*+, WV*?, MU-, Nova*?,ND?,SJU+, Prov*++, Rut*++. (Pomeroy predicts 11-7, RealTime 12-6).

Louisville 5-4 - Rut*++, SJU+, Syr--, ND*++, DePaul+, Gtown*?, UConn-, MU?, Syr*-. (Pomeroy and RealTime both predict 10-8).

Cincinnati 5-4 – ND-, Syr*-, UConn-, USF-, MU*?, DePaul*++, WVU--,Nova*-, Gtown--. (Pomeroy 8-10, RealTime 7-11).

Marquette 5-5 – Prov+, USF*+, Pitt*+, Cincy ?, SJU+, SH?, Lville* ?, ND*+. (Pomeroy predicts 11-7 and 4th place on tiebreaker, RealTime predicts 10-8 and 6th place based on predicted loss to Lousville).

South Florida 5-5 – ND ?, MU-, Cincy*+, SJU*+, Nova--, Prov*+, DePaul+,UConn*+. Predicted 9-9 in both, but win at MU next Saturday would push MU down to 7th place).

MU could certainly fall further, but can you believe that in early February we are talking about MU finishing somewhere between 4th and 7th place in the Big East? ESPN says there are five NCAA locks in the Big East, the conference with the top RPI in the country.

If MU wins at Providence Saturday, and South Florida wins at Notre Dame, both would be 6-5 going into what could suddenly be a showdown of teams that were in the bottom quarter not long ago. Even if Providence and ND win, they both face a gauntlet at the end that will make it very unlikely they finish .500 in the Big East and challenge the teams listed above.

MU has the four stars for the stretch run – does it have the bench or height?
The question is still whether or not MU has the depth or height to get through the final Big East run and tournament and end up in the NCAA.

To review the rest of the performances Saturday night against DePaul:
Mo Acker and David Cubillan couldn’t hit tonight, but did continue to provide senior poise in protecting the ball (only 3 turnovers in a combined 70 minutes compared to 8 turnovers in 46 minutes for Buycks and DJO).

Frankly outside of the two incredible runs to open each half, DePaul frustrated MU (outside of DJO and Buycks the rest of the team went 9 of 35 from the floor), slapped on a press that stole the ball 10 times, and actually won the other 24 minutes of the game 58-34 by turning the game into a foul fest (54 total fouls between the two teams). However, with Lazar again doing everything well (18 points, 14 rebounds, 3 early steals, and a “Lebron-style” rejection off a breakaway) and Jimmy Butler looking again more assertive after the game-winner at UConn by continually challenging DePaul’s bigs and getting to the line (his 14-16 from the line led a 36-44 night, or 81.8%, for MU), it is clear MU has four bona fide stars for the stretch run.

Is the bench deep enough and can anyone over 6-foot-6 contribute enough to make the tourney? Joe Fulce and Erik Williams grabbed a combined 10 rebounds in just 20 minutes, and Williams looked very strong in also tracking down a loose ball. With Mboa and Otule out, these two 6-foot-7 players are both looking assertive enough to perhaps provide the boost and give MU the option of a 2-guard offense in stretches.
Junior Cadougan only got in four more minutes with DJO and Buycks hot, but he did drive to the hoop to draw a foul, and put a nice pass into Buycks for a layup.
And of course, DJO and Buycks are just adding to what we already thought we had with Lazar and Jimmy.

Lazar Hayward grabbed a few early steals, but missed his first few shots to be scoreless at the 10 minute mark. However, he then took over with an unbelievable sequence in which he ripped his own miss away from two taller DePaul defenders to stick it back in for his first score with 9:38 to play, then shortly thereafter tracked down a DePaul fast break to reject a layup off the backboard. He finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds.

I'm certainly not counting any of the final games "in the bank." USF looked like a lock a few weeks ago, and now who knows if we can stop Jones. ND on senior day actually looks like the most certain win. BUT, all the rest of the games are winnable. After being picked to finish 13th BEFORE Junior, Otule and Mbao went down with injuries and Maymon quit, can you believe two of the most accurate predictors of college basketball now predict us to finish either 4th or 7th in the Big East?

I really hope to be flying someplace to see MU in the NCAA, but even if not, this has not been the lost rebuilding year I was anticipating.

Prov Game Videos..

Post-game presser videos

Hat tip to downtown85 for finding these videos from the post-game presser.

Dear Cameraman .. any chance you could invest in some anti-shake technology?

Warriors upset #15 Michigan 76-65

Uh oh. Remember the dire predictions for Marquette's season? Time to recalculate.

Marquette is pretty good. After knocking off Xavier the day before, Marquette dismissed Michigan, who, oh by the way, was ranked #15 in the country.

It's early, but .. get excited Marquette fans. It's on like Donkey Kong. This season isn't going to be the whitewash, (I for one), estimated.

After snacking on 4 of the worst teams in D1, not much could be known. MU is now 2-0 versus quality opponents. When Cracked Sidewalks did their preseason predictions .. all of us predicted a loss to Xavier and most a loss to whoever we played next. Wrong.

Man, what a great Thanksgiving!

Rosiak's Recap
Rosiak's Other Recap
Official Box
Marquette recap

ESPN Video Highlights


Rob Lowe, our Vice President of Statisticology adds:

This was a fairly offensive game for Marquette, as they averaged almost 1.27 points per possession compared to Michigan's 1.04 ppp. Marquette did great at effective field goal percentage (58.5%) today, which was the key for the game. However, MU also won the offensive rebounding (39% vs 31%) and free throw rate (40% vs 33%) battles. And even though Michigan did better on turnover rate (their 14% vs our 16%), both teams protected the ball at a better than average rate. Just like in the Xavier game, MU won three of the Four Factors to earn the "W".

In the quick MUScoop preview, the two early matchups were the ability to force turnovers and get to the free throw line. Marquette did a good job of getting to the free throw line at a rate of almost 40%, but only harassed Michigan into a turnover rate of 14%.

Video from MU:

Grambling things we like to see...

Otule dunking:

EWill playing:


Frozena, clearly our most popular player, getting a layup:


Post game:

Un De Feat Ed!

Marquette started the 2009-10 campaign with a 85-62 thumping of Centenary. Jimmy Butler was superlative with a double double, 27 & 13.

Quick hits:

Rosiak
Box Score

Post-Game Presser:

Marquette wins .. whew!

Marquette nipped Utah State 58-57 to advance to the ........ Tremendous Thirty Two in this year's NCAA tournament.

Marquette had a comfortable 13 point lead after playing 17 minutes of the first half, and looked to be cruising to an easy victory, when our shots stopped falling and USU figured out how to score against our much quicker squad.

MU was outscored 39-32 in the 2nd half, and was down by 6 with 5 minutes to go, yet slowly chipped away, mostly with the help of USU fouling and putting MU on the line. -- Marquette hit 19-23 (83%) from the charity stripe, hitting 11 of 14 in the last 3 minutes to seal the game.

With a 4 point lead, USU was allowed to streak down the court and hit an open 3 to end the game, 58-57.

Lazar Hayward was the player of the game, shooting 9-14 with 26 points and 8 boards. Jerel and Wes shot a dismal 6-26 combined, and collected most of their points from the FT line.

This game is very reminiscent of the MU vs. Holy Cross game in 2003, when 3rd seeded MU barely survived 72-68 versus #14 seed Holy Cross. It took 29 points from Travis Diener, 6 in the last 35 seconds to eek out that win.

Who was Marquette's next opponent in 2003? Missouri, who Marquette will play this Sunday at 4:15pm.

• ESPN Box Score

• Play by Play

• JS Online Recap

Whew!

And what of the quick turnaround for the Sunday game against Missouri -- especially since MU had five days to prepare for Utah State? After the game we asked MU great Jim McIlvaine about the tight turnaround during the NCAA tournament and how that might impact players' preparation, their approach, and their own expectations heading into Sunday's tilt with the Tigers:

I don't think the approach changes at all for the players. Coach Williams has done a very good job of keeping things loose, but focused within the team and they have been very consistent throughout the year in terms of their game preparation. I don't know what expectations the team has for themselves or what the general consensus is outside of the team, but I have to think these kids, especially the seniors, wouldn't feel like any weight of expectation has been lifted with this win.

I don't want to sell them short, but I have to think the seniors would be disappointed if they weren't able to make it to the second weekend of the tournament. Of course, I'm hoping for a Final Four run and a national championship, but I'm now in a position to do that, because I'm no longer a player, who can only focus on the next opponent and the task at hand.

Jim, thanks. We'll be listening on Sunday.

Enjoy the victory!!

*edit - McIlvaine comments.

Marquette loses heartbreaker at the buzzer

In what would have been the largest comeback in Big East Tournament History, Marquette lost by one point to #5 seeded Villanova, 76-75 on a last second tip-in.

Marquette battled back from a 17 point deficit to take the lead with 90 seconds to play, but couldn't hold on.

Jimmy Butler had a wonderful game, with 19 points and Wes and Lazar snared a double-doubles, but that was not enough to eek out a victory.

Heartbreaking. With the loss of Dominic James .. this season is becoming the year of woulda, coulda. These past 6 games would have been dramatically different with #1 on the court.

Now the waiting begins.

AP Recap
Box Score
Rosiak

MU drops fourth straight on Senior Night

After tearing through the first half of the Big East Season, starting 9-0 with visions of a Big East Championship, MU closed out the 2nd half 3-6, ending the season with a loss on Senior Night to #25 Syracuse, in OT, 86-79.

I don't know what to say here. The Bradley Center has been a sad place, losing James, losing to UConn, losing to Syracuse on Senior Night. Just a terrible way to close out the season, and a terrible way to send four seniors out to post-season. Brutal.

The overtime Senior Night loss reminded me of the Senior Night triple OT loss in 2001 to Louisville that ended Brian Wardle's tenure. It was truly a punch in the nuts, and you just felt so bad for those guys.

You want to read about the game, read the AP recap. What am I going to tell you, you don't already know?

While losing to #1-2 type NCAA seeds UConn, Pitt, and UL is no surprise, I think the NCAA seeding committee is going to look upon today's loss most seriously. It shows that a Dominic Jamesless MU team, can't beat a 6-7 seed like Syracuse on their home court in front of 19,000. I think we need 2 wins in the BET to look credible as a 5-6-7 seed.


AP Recap
Official Box
Buzz Post-game MP3
Wes Matthews Post-Game MP3
Photo Gallery

Marquette Fails and Passes Test

#8 Marquette lost a game most expected to lose today, bowing to #6 Louisville on the road 58-62.

But how Marquette lost should give Warrior nation great hope for our immediate, Dominic James-less future.

Had you been told MU would be without their star PG, would be forced to start a 5'9" shrimp in his place .. and their star SG would have a miserable offensive night, missing 16 of 19 .. you'd have had nightmares of a 30 point thrashing at Freedom Hall.

That didn't happen. While DJ was missed, Marquette did not play like a team with an important cog missing. -- Other than McNeal perhaps trying too hard to make up for DJ's absence, forcing up too many shots that bricked.

This bodes well for MU's future, playing @Pitt, home vs. Syracuse, the BET, and the NCAAs. Simply put: Even without DJ, Marquette took the #6 team in the country down to the wire. -- Had McNeal been able to bring even his C+ offense, the Warriors would have walked out with a W.

Marquette never quit, broke the highly touted Louisville press well, committing only 11 turnovers .. and even managed to tie UL 37-37 on rebounds.

Acker was laudable in his 33 minutes of play, handling the ball well, with 3 assists, 3 rebs, and just 2 turnovers. Jimmy Butler had 6 points and 10 rebounds in 26 minutes off the bench.

Lazar notched another double-double with 16 and 10, on a very efficient 6-11 shooting, while Matthews poured in 19, and was unfortunate in a no-call at the end of the game. (See video below.)

Marquette goes to #1 Pittsburgh on Wednesday with their heads held high, and hopes up.

AP Recap
Box Score
Rosiak Recap

Last shot by Wes .. no foul? You judge:

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

MU Thumps SJU 73-59

Marquette ended their two game losing skid with a Valentine's Day win over SJU, 73-59. Marquette has now won 10+ games in each of its 4 seasons of Big East play, and goes into their final 6 games with a 10-2 record.

St. John's was able to keep up with the Warriors for the first 17 minutes, keeping the game a low scoring affair at 24-24, but Marquette went on a 17-2 run over the next 6 minutes, building a healthy 15 point lead that the Johnnies never seriously threatened.

Prior to the game, McNeal was honored by George Thompson for breaking Brute Force's decades old record for most points scored.

Jerel went on to score 20, with 7 rebounds and 5 steals. Lazar picked up the silver for 18, and 7, while DJ had a healthy 14 with 6 assists. Lazar was also honored pre-game, for his 1,000 point.

AP Recap
Rosiak Recap
Official Box Score

Slideshow:

Three silver linings on a miserable night

OK, probably no one wants to write tonight, and maybe noone even wants to read after losing by 18. However, even in defeat, what a trio of seniors:

1) Jerel McNeal breaks scoring record,
2) Dominic James gets 9 assists to only 2 turnovers to make it 50 and 12 in last ten games, and
3) Wes Matthews ties Hansbrough with 150 free throws made

And with all that, the best MU player on the court was Lazar .

Obviously the huge news tonight is Jerel McNeal putting in his 1,776th point to break the 40-year-old scoring record, overtaking the great George Thompson's 1,773 compiled through 1969. McNeal is trying to become the first Marquette hoops player since Dwyane Wade (21.5 ppg in 2003) to top 20 points per game, and since he has scored more than 20 points in every game for almost two months, he should get there. Coming into tonight MUs offense was the 6th ranked offense in the country with 115.2 points per 100 trips down the court, behind only UNC, Oklahoma, UCLA, and Pitt - all ranked in the Top 6 - and Utah State, which plays much lighter competition.

While Marquette is in a two-game rut, we won't know if we are witnessing a team that peaked early OR, if we are just going through the rut that almost every team (remember the three-game losing streak at home in 1977) goes through.

While our defense certainly has looked soft for stretches in most games and there were easy shots around the basket tonight, Villanova also continued what they started against Syracuse by hitting from everywhere on the court.

In addition to McNeal, who most are agreeing would be named MVP of the brutal 16-team Big East right now, MU is dominating in two of the other four ways you win games:

FIRST, GETTING TO THE LINE AND MAKING FREETHROWS. No "BCS" player this year has made more freethrows this year than Wesley Matthews, who with a 4 of 6 tonight is now at 150 of 181 from the line, catching UNC national player-of-the-year Tyler Hansbrough (150-178). All together, Marquette hits 47.3 free throws for every 100 field goals they attempt, meaning the only two BCS teams that get to the line better are the top two teams in the country, UConn and Oklahoma. Tonight we made only 15 while taking 57 field goals - I'd argue we didn't get a bunch of calls we should have on drives, but I'm biased.

SECOND, AVOIDING TURNOVERS. Point Guard Dominic James has dished out 50 assists while turning the ball over only 12 times in the last 10 games. A great point guard may have twice the assists as turnovers, but James' nine assists to only two turnovers tonight gives him an amazing 4.2-to-1 since the Big East opener. Can you imagine what his ratio would be if he had someone like Cunningham underneath to consistently catch his passes and lay them in? Also, a nice in control 6 of 11 shooting. Outside of the four missed free throws, can't ask for much more from your point guard.

Marquette is one of the better teams in the other two factors that determine games, shooting percentage and offensive rebounds, despite averaging only 6-foot-3 1/2, but it is MUs ability to drive past opponents to get to the line and not turn the ball over that has them 20-4 and has them in the top 4 in the 16-team Big East.

When you consider Jerel's MVP season, Dominic's assists to turnovers, and Wes' ability to get to the line, it's no wonder several commentators, including Bobby Knight and Dick Vitale, have called Marquette's three guards the best trio of guards in the country.

Maybe in the end the defense won't be tough enough, and MU will prove too small and have too few players to make the big run, but I'm buying low right now and think in the end Marquette will solve the issues of the past two games and take over. Just like Al did in 1977. And tonight we shot exceptionally well with a 58% effective field goal percentage. The question is how much of Nova's ungodly 65% was bad defense and how much was them just being unconscious for the 2nd game. We can't grab only 4 offensive rebounds, but other than than, we did enough good things that I think we just caught an incredibly hot team that would have rolled anyone tonight.

Go Marquette!

MU Shooting Sinks Streak, USF wins 57-56

Marquette's perfect Big East record disappeared with a thud, with a loss to the victory challenged USF Bulls, 57-56.

Marquette shot a miserable 38% from the field, a horrible 16% (4-24) from 3-point land, and a galacticly bad 43% from the charity stripe.

Amazingly, MU had a chance to win it, but missed two close-up shots to end the game.

My lucky shirt is no longer lucky, I am irritated, and am mailing this post-game report in.

MU travels to Villanova on Tuesday.

Official Box Score
AP Recap
Rosiak Recap
Rosiak Blog

Marquette extends DePaul's misery

Marquette did what it had to do tonight and not much else in defeating the DePaul Blue Demons, 76-61. With the win Marquette extended its win streak to 12 games and moved to 20-2 overall and 9-0 in the BIG EAST.

Jerel McNeal led MU with a Wadesque line of 26 points, six assists, four rebounds, five steals and four blocked shots. Read that again. Wesley Matthews finished with 20 points and Dominic James had 15, 13 in the second half. Marquette shot a season-high 57% from the floor tonight.

Will Walker led DePaul with 30. The Blue Demons hit the floor tonight without their best player and leading scorer, Dar Tucker, who injured an ankle in the team shootaround earlier in the day. DePaul remains winless in the BIG EAST (0-10) and 8-15 overall.

Despite the margin of victory, the Golden Eagles played their best ball early and that proved to be enough. MU raced out to a fast 27-9 lead just nine minutes into the game only to let the Blue Demons off the respirator in the final ten minutes of the half. Led by Will Walker the Blue Demons went on a 23-11 run to close to within 42-37 at the break.

In the second half, the Marquette backcourt went to work on defense. Triggered by Dominic James' aggressive play, MU turned DePaul over four times in the first two minutes of the second half as the Golden Eagles built a 56-45 lead with 13:30 to play. From there MU was content to muddle along while maintaining a safe lead over the out-manned Blue Demons for the rest of the evening.

Next up for MU is a road tilt at South Florida on Friday evening.

BTW -- kudos to the Marquette fans at the Bradley Center South tonight........"We Are Marquette" came through loud and clear on the television broadcast during the game's closing minutes. Allstate Arena remains OUR HOUSE.

Media updates

• Box Score
• AP Recap
• Rosiak's newspaper recap
• Rosiak blog recap
• MU/DP photo gallery from the ChiTribune
• Chicago Tribune on Marquette's win
• Sun Times on the scappy Blue Demons loss