MU advances to play Notre Dame in the BET

MU overcame the feisty Seton Hall Pirates 67-54 to advance to the quarterfinal round of the Big East tourney. In one of the ugliest games in recent memory, Jerel McNeal's sublime performance was the difference. The slashing guard led MU with 21 points, hauled in 9 boards and dished out four assists. Dominic James landed up with 11 points, five boards and four steals -- each of which came in the last three minutes of regulation to help seal the victory. Lazar Hayward came through with a big second half, earning another double/double with 15 and 10.

The story of the night was offensive rebounding where MU snared 21 boards on their way to a 52-29 advantage on the glass. Despite that dominance, MU was unable to convert consistently (the Golden Eagles only shot 34% from the floor) and was miserable at the charity stripe (20-35, 57%).

Survive and advance.

Seton Hall Media Updates

• Box Score
• AP recap
• Rosiak's recap
• Adam Zagoria blogs the game
• Ray Floriani on Day One at the BET
• Rosiak's blog on the night
  

With the win, Marquette improves to 23-8 on the season and will lace'em up against the Notre Dame Fightin' Irish tonight at 8pm CST. Marquette and Notre Dame split the regular season matchups with each team winning at home. Here's a quick look back:

MU/ND Game One
MU knocks off ND - game recap.
MU knocks off ND --numbers recap.

ND knocks off MU - game recap
ND knocks off MU -- numbers recap.

Round 3: Marquette takes on Seton Hall in MSG

UPDATED
The sixth-seeded Marquette Golden Eagles will take on the 11th seeded Seton Hall Pirates in the opening round of the 2008 Big East Championship on Wednesday night. Tipoff is scheduled for 8pm CST on ESPN.

Marquette beat the Hall twice during the regular season. At the Bradley Center in January, MU outlasted the Pirates in an ugly, low-scoring affair, 61-56. Home cooking was no better for the Pirates as MU raced out to a 30-10 lead and never looked back, coming away with an 89-64 win.

Seton Hall arrives at MSG in a world of hurt. The Pirates have lost three in a row and eight of ten, including a gut-wrenching loss to rival Rutgers to close the regular season. The RU loss threw SHU head coach Bobby Gonzalez for a loop, leading to a series of embarrassing remarks during and after that game.

Perhaps Marquette can take advantage of the death spiral that is building around the Pirates' season. The Golden Eagles (22-8, 11-7) finished the conference season with back-to-back losses, and will look to recapture the momentum that carried the team to a five-game win streak through much of February.

The most interesting matchup pits Dominic James against SHU's resident thug, senior guard Jamar Nutter. It was Nutter who delivered a harsh intentional foul on James back in January, a collision that injured the Marquette point guard's wrist hindering his play for weeks. Nutter continued the rough play with a forearm shiver to James' chops during the Hall's embarrassing home loss to MU, earning an ejection from the game. Will Nutter go for the three-peat?

For a quick reminder on how MU won the first two meetings, look inside the numbers:

• Seton Hall numbers recap, Game 1 where MU won despite one of its worse offensive performances of the season.
• Seton Hall numbers recap, Game 2 where MU delivered a devastating offensive performance highlighted by Yeoman's work on the offensive glass.

Key Numbers to Watch

• Seton Hall protects the ball exceptionally well, turning it over just 16.7% of the time -- good for 9th in the country. Meanwhile, MU forces opponents to cough the ball up nearly 25% of the time. If MU wins the turnover battle, the path to victory will be clearer.
• The Pirates are a middle of the road offensive team, only generating an eFG% of 48% - - 228 teams are more efficient than the Hall.
• Defense continues to be a problem for the Pirates who allow opponents a horrendous 51.6% eFG percentage (248th in the nation). Moreover the Hall cedes the glass with little fight - the Pirates are 314th in the nation in preventing offensive rebounds.

The net: If MU turns the Hall over and attacks the offensive glass, expect good things for the Golden Eagles. If not, we could be in for a nail biter against a lesser opponent.

Media Links

• Marquette game notes
• Big East Basketball Report preview
• Asbury Park Press
• Chicago Tribune preview (hello DePaul fans!)
• Star-Ledger preview focuses on Eugene Harvey
• Rosiak on the Nutter/James drama
  
• The Buffalo News profiles the maturing Lazar Hayward
• BIG EAST CAST delivers an outsanding podcast preview of the BET
  

Seton Hall Numbers Recap - Game 2

We're going to split the numbers recaps into Team Stats and Individual Stats over the next few days. There is just too much good information to share regarding the team today. As recapped here on Cracked Sidewalks, Marquette managed another blowout win in a game that 68%* of Marquette fans regarded as "Super Must Win". How did things end up for this game, and does it mean that the team is finally starting to play better?

Four Factors Review

First things first. It may look like there are really FIVE factors, so we wanted to set the record straight. The Four Factors are effective Field Goal Percentage (eFG%), Turnover Rate (TO Rate), Offensive Rebounding Percentage (OR%), and Free Throw Rate (FT Rate). Efficiency, which may seem like a fifth factor, is a measurement of the game's results. Whichever team wins the Efficiency battle wins the game 100% of the time.

Unlike the last game, where Marquette had a then-season worst in Efficiency, the good guys did an outstanding job on offense. Marquette fared better in three of the four factors on the way to the victory, including a decisive advantage on Offensive Rebounding and Turnover Rate. Remember that Seton Hall was the #5 team in the country at protecting the ball, and we forced them into a below average (average is 20%) showing.

Has the team started to turn the corner?

If one looks at the key trends for the team, one can see the beginnings of good things with the team. To start with, our Offensive and Defensive Ratings (same as efficiency above), is now trending in the right directions on both fronts. After a long stretch where our Defensive Rating was lower than our Offensive Rating, we are now in the net positive direction.


Our effective Field Goal Percentage (eFG%) has also started to improve. This trend is a little bit more tenuous, but at least we are heading in the right direction. Furthermore, if you notice, the reason we are doing better on eFG% is primarily because the defense is getting better.

Finally, things are starting to improve with Offensive Rebounding Percentage (OR%). One of the primary reasons we defeated UW@Madison was because the team achieved 50% Offensive Rebounding Percentage. This was an early season strength for Marquette, but it started to suffer greatly during conference play. Now, the team is finally in a situation where our OR% is improving and the OR% of our opponents is decreasing.


Is this just more Inconsistency from High Risk Strategies?

In a previous entry, we looked at the inconsistency associated with Marquette. Was last night's game just another indication of this same inconsistency? Looking at a moving average of our Pt. Spread Standard Deviation, one can see that we have improved as a team and we are now around the NCAA average. Therefore, not only is the team playing better and returning to some early season strengths, but the team is playing more consistently too. Signs of hope, everybody.


Projections

Given all of this good news, how do things look for the rest of the season?

• Pomeroy predicts a final record of 23-7 (12-6) conference. That means losing only once in our last seven games.
• Based on our conference stats of 105.2 ORtg and 101.5 DRtg, we predict to a conference record of 10.8 - 7.2. That means losing 2-3 times in our last seven games.
• Based on how we've been playing the last five games (ORtg 108.4 ; DRtg 98.7), we predict to a conference record of 13.4 - 4.6. That's impossible, considering we already have lost five games, but it is an indication that the team has been playing better the last five games.

It's time to start gearing up for what should be a wild Friday night against Pittsburgh. The team seems to actually be playing much better and finally returning to what was working in the non-conference part of the schedule.

*Poll may not be representative of entire Marquette fan base, but the game /was/ a Super Must Win.

Dozens Watch as MU Crushes Pirates

Marquette jumped out to a 30-10 lead in front of an empty Prudential Center, and cruised to an easy 89-64 win.

Lazar Hayward notched another double-double with 23 points, 11 rebounds. Matthews and McNeal chipped in 14 each.

Marquette crushed the Pirates on the boards, with a whopping 43 to 22 advantage.

The Pirates didn't put up much of a fight, except to fight. The coach got Tee'd up early, Nutter, their Sr. captain gave a blatant elbow to James' jaw and was ejected, and Mike Davis decided to say some choice words to Ooze, evoking a double technical. (You can get a technical for Sengalese cuss words?)

Marquette heads back home to play Pittsburgh on Friday at the Bradley Center.

Video clips from TallTitan:


AP Wrap / Box / Play by Play
Rosiak: Nutter Ejection

Seton Hall Preview

Tonight shapes up to be a pivotal game for Marquette. Now firmly into the highly-scrutinized "last ten games" of the regular season, MU has started off 0-2. Standing at 6-5 in conference, a loss tonight would squarely place the post-season in jeopardy. It's been since 1979-1980 that the team made the NCAA tournament three years in a row, and everyone wants to see that long streak end.

In our numbers recap from the last game against Seton Hall, we showed exactly how ugly that game was. Seton Hall fared better in Turnover Rate, Offensive Rebounding, and Free Throw Rate. With all that, as well as holding Marquette to a then-season low in Offensive Efficiency, it's fortunate that our team was able to win. Considering that everyone expected a track meet last game, let's see how the pace ends up tonight.

Here are the Top Five Numbers for Seton Hall, with information from Pomeroy's Scouting Report and Game Plan.

• 76% - Pomeroy predicts a 76% chance of winning
• 5 - Seton Hall is ranked #5 in the country at protecting the ball. They turn the ball over on only 15.8% of all possessions.
  
• 11 - Seton Hall is ranked #11 in the country at Steal Percentage. They get a steal on 13.7% of all defensive possessions
• 31 - That's the jersey number of 6'9", 265 lb F John Garcia. Garcia is #10 in the country at Offensive Rebounding Percentage (16.1%)
• 20 - Despite all of the recent struggles, Marquette is still considered a top 20 team by Pomeroy at both Offensive and Defensive Efficiency. We are #18 and #19 in the country, respectively.
  

Links

• Rosiak has a nice story on Lazar, including some discussion of Hayward being eligible for League's Most Improved Player.
• Rosiak's blog was busy the last few days, with updates from the polls and a quick look at Seton Hall (scroll down)
• GoMarquette.com preview, including a link to the game notes
• NJ Star Ledger looks at Seton Hall, with a focus on the Big East Tourney
• PirateCrew.com has a preview of tonight's game

Seton Hall Numbers Recap

In our Seton Hall Preview, we said to look at Free Throw Rate for both teams, how many turnovers MU was able to force, and to expect Marquette to score easily and often through a quick pace.

Yeah, almost none of those things happened, mostly due to Seton Hall's 3-2 zone defense. As has already been recapped by CS, this was an ugly game.


Looking at the four factors, Marquette should feel fairly lucky to have won. Seton Hall did better on Turnovers, Offensive Rebounding, and Free Throw Rate, and only allowed a slight difference to MU on Field Goal Percentage. Marquette averages an Offensive Efficiency of 118.7, and Seton Hall held Marquette to their worst Efficiency of the season. On the flip side, Marquette was able to force Seton Hall into more Turnovers than they usually commit, and held them under their standard Free Throw Rate.

Disturbing Trend or Fatigue?

For the second game in a row, Marquette was held to a season worst in Offensive Efficiency and effective Field Goal Percentage. Marquette's previous worst in Offensive Efficiency was 101.7 against West Virginia. Marquette's previous worst in in eFG% was 48.3%. MU ended up well below both of these figures, which were already season lows. In addition, for the second game in a row, Marquette ended up with Offensive Rebounding figures that were well below our average. At one point, our Offensive Rebounding Percentage was #7 out of all Division 1 schools, but that number has since fallen.

Is this a trend where our team's offensive and defensive efficiency return to normal after a season of cupcakes? Or, is this just an instance of Marquette playing three games in six days, including a tough matchup in Morgantown? Frankly, there's just not enough data, but Cracked Sidewalks will be concerned if trends continue against Notre Dame.

Individual Ratings


Key contributors to the game for Marquette were Dominic James and Jerel McNeal. The numbers for McNeal are a clear example of how he contributes through different means. Despite going 6-17 and having six turnovers, McNeal had a positive contribution through his other stat stuffers of seven rebounds, five assists, three blocks, and two steals. Both of our centers made their contributions on the defensive end, but weren't able to generate any offense.

Notre Dame is coming to town this Saturday. This will be a very tough test for Marquette.

Marquette survives against Seton Hall

It was not the track meet many expected, but Marquette overcame a 13 point first half deficit to edge the Seton Hall Pirates 61-56 tonight at the Bradley Center. Dan Fitzgerald's fourth three-pointer of the night off a feed from Wesley Matthews with just seconds remaining sealed the win. Marquette moves to 12-2 on the season, and 2-1 in Big East play.

Jerel McNeal led MU with 14 points, followed by Dominic James with 13 and Fitzgerald with a cool dozen. Fitzgerald was 4-9 from the field, with all of his attempts coming from three-point territory. Maurice Acker played a season-high 28 minutes last night, and his energy was a big part of MU's second half comeback. The diminutive sophomore landed up with five points and six assists before fouling out.

For the third straight game, MU was flat coming out of the locker room. The Pirates used an 11-0 run to fight to a 22-9 lead through the first thirteen minutes of the game. How bad was MU's start? At the twelve minute mark, the Golden Eagles were 1-10 from beyond the arc and had more turnovers than made baskets. Seton Hall carried a 31-24 into the half.

The key sequence of the game happened with six minutes remaining and MU down by two, 47-49. SHU's Jamar Nutter intentionally fouled Dominic James on a breakaway layup, sending James to the locker room. James' layup was good and Acker, who started in the second half in place of Wesley Matthews, made both free throws to put MU ahead. MU never relinquished the lead from that point on, though the Hall kept it close until Fitzgerald's clutch bucket closed the scoring. James later returned to the floor, but went to the hospital for tests on his right wrist after the game.

This was some kind of ugly win. Whle MU's defense was solid, the offense was abominable throughout this game. As a team the Golden Eagles shot 32% from the field (realize that SHU was the league's worst defensive team coming into the game). Amazingly, against a team with average (at best) bigs, Barro and Burke combined for one field goal attempt in 39 minutes of action. The shot was missed.

MEDIA UPDATES

Rosiak on MU's win

Zagoria blogs on the MU win

SportsNetwork recap

AP Recap / Box Score / Play by Play

Shots from Section 204

Knowing Seton Hall

Special to Cracked Sidewalks, here is a rundown of the key players on the SHU roster by noted New Jersey-based sportswriter, Ray Floriani.

Knowing Seton Hall

by Ray Floriani

First the bad news for Seton Hall. Paul Gause is out of action with a broken knuckle which will keep him sidelined two to four weeks. Gause can score but his true worth is on the defensive end. The 5-11 junior often draws the opposition’s best guard or small forward and can change games with his defensive disruption.

At any rate, the Hall is basically a perimeter oriented team. They will shoot the three or look to penetrate off the dribble. They will also try to create offensive opportunities (coach Bobby Gonzalez aims for 12 steals a game) off their pressure defense. Even minus Gause expect some pressure.

They do not have an imposing inside game. Gonzalez hoped to bring along the big men in pre-conference games but had to go small a number of occasions (against Robert Morris and James Madison for example) just to get a victory.

Eugene Harvey 6-0 SO– Solid lead guard. Gets in the lane, handles pressure and is one of the best in the conference at his position. His liability is outside shooting. Still, he’s the Hall’s marquee player.

Jamar Nutter 6-2 SR– In a slump before a nice outing (career high 29 points) against Morgan State on Saturday. Nutter will let you know by his first couple of shots if he’s on or not.

John Garcia 6-9 SO– Best of the Hall big men. Does a nice job inside but needs additional assistance in the paint against Big East front courts.

Brian Laing 6-5 SWG - Can play the four spot. Undersized for that position but plays’ bigger’ than his listed height and is a relentless worker. Can also step out and hit the ten footer.

Jeremy Hazell 6-5 FR – Can score and is not afraid to take the three. Athletic enough to get inside and break down a defense.

Mike Davis and Augustine Okosun – Both are 6-11and in similar situations. Davis is a freshman while Okosun a junior. These two inside players could have used more seasoning in December. They will play well in stretches but one, if not both, has to be more consistent to help Garcia and Laing inside. Soon.

Ray, thanks very much!

BTW - -we'd like to remind you that MUScoop hosts a chat room during ALL MARQUETTE GAMES. Just point your browser to http://www.muscoop.com/chat/flashchat.php and start chatting with Marquette fans around the country as we watch the game "together."

Don't forget about the extensive game preview for tonight's tilt right here.

Marquette looks to rebound against Seton Hall

After Sunday's disappointing defeat at West Virginia -- where MU gave up a whopping 50 points in the second half -- the Golden Eagles (11-2, 1-1) will look to right the ship in the friendly confines on 4th and State tonight at 8pm CST against Seton Hall (10 -4, 0-1).

Marquette is 8-0 at home this season. SHU hits the court tonight after defeating Morgan State 89-81 on Saturday. The Pirates lost their Big East opener at home to UConn, 98-86.

Like MU, the Pirates are led by their backcourt but rely on a combo forward to make them a more complete team -- in the case of SHU, that is talented senior Brian Laing. While sophomore PG Eugene Harvey tends to gain the headlines, the 6'5" Laing is this team's heart and soul. The senior plays 39 minutes per game and leads the Hall in scoring (19ppg) and rebounding (7 rpg).

Laing should be matched up with Lazar Hayward quite a bit tonight, which presents an enormous challenge for Tom Crean. With Hayward in the lineup, MU is a much more explosive and productive. With Dan Fitzgerald's injury and recent ineffectiveness, much is riding on Hayward's ability to stay on the floor.

Laing aside, SHU is a guard-dominated team but will go to battle tonight without standout guard Paul Gause. Gause, who average nearly 9 ppg and a miraculous three steals per game, is out with a broken knuckle. The Pirates will look to the group of Harvey, Jamar Nutter, super freshman shooter Jeremy Hazell, and Larry Davis to apply pressure to MU.

Led by its backcourt, the Pirates are second in the Big East in scoring offense, racking up 85 points per game. Still, as deep as SHU is in the backcourt and as much as the Pirates love to apply pressure to their opponents (they lead the league in steals), this team refuses to defend. Seton Hall is by far the league's worst defensive unit, surrendering more than 80 ppg, and allowing opponents to hit 45% from the field (also a league worst).

Expect a fast-paced game tonight...a pace that should play to MU's favor more than the Hall's if MU can run its offense effectively.

Here are the Top Five Numbers to Know for Seton Hall. As always, information for the Top Five Numbers comes from Pomeroy's Scouting Report and Game Plan.

7 - Seton Hall's National Rating at Turnover Percentage

• Seton Hall only turns the ball over on 16.3% of all possessions
• Marquette is forcing opponents into a turnover rate of 24.1%

25% - The Free Throw Rate that Seton Hall averages on offense

• This means that for every FGA that Seton Hall takes, they make one free throw
• However, every time that Seton Hall gets a FTR at 25% or less, they lose
• Seton Hall has achieved a FTR of 34% or higher in all of their victories
• In case you forgot, Marquette just allowed a Free Throw Rate of 58% to West Virginia

35% - The key number to hit for Marquette on Free Throw Rate

• In all four of Seton Hall's losses, their opponent has managed a Free Throw Rate of 35% or greater
• Marquette has managed greater than 35% in all but three of their games
• Free Throws are the key matchup of the game, so look to see which team is able to get to the line more often and prevent the opponent from getting to the line
  

234 - Seton Hall's National Rating at effective Field Goal Defense (eFG%)

• Seton Hall is allowing opponents to attain an average eFG% of 51.9%
• Even after being held to only 49% by West Virginia, Marquette is still averaging an eFG% of 56% - that's good enough for 15 out of 341 Division 1 schools
• Expect us to continue the trend and get healthy on good shot selection and easy baskets
  

73.9 - Number of possessions that Seton Hall averages per game

• This is one of the faster paces in Division 1 (23 out of 341 schools)
• I'm sure that Marquette will be happy to run up and down the Bradley Center with the Pirates
  

Summary
Seton Hall likes to push a quick pace to the game, but still manages to hold onto the ball fairly well. However, they allow opponents to score very efficiently against them, and Marquette should take advantage. Watch Free Throws to see which team is getting to the line and making their shots at a greater clip.

If you want some help feeling confident after the weekend loss, Pomeroy predicts a 98% chance of win and a 29-point victory margin.

Tonight's game will be broadcast on SNY and on ESPN Full Court, Directv Channel 695.


Preview Links

gomarquette.com Preview and Game Notes

Marquettehoops.com with another great preview by Eric Silver (aka Silver Warrior)

SetonHall Rivals preview

Newark Star-Ledger previews the game

Seton Hall preview and game notes

Rosiak's Preview Crean is still peeved.

*Above post is another joint contribution by one of our NJ-based correspondents, NYWarrior, and Henry Sugar

Golden Eagles host Seton Hall

Marquette looks to extend its four-game Big East win streak on Wednesday night when they host the Seton Hall Pirates at the Bradley Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 7pm CST. The game will be broadcast on ESPN 360.

Marquette, the hottest team in the Big East, returns to Milwaukee for just its third home game this month. The Golden Eagles re-emerged on the national scene with a gutty overtime win over the Pittsburgh Panthers on Sunday. Just how well have the Golden Eagles been playing of late? Ask Michael Hunt of the Journal-Sentinel.

Despite the fine play of late, an emotional letdown after the Pitt game might be human nature -- but its also a recipe for MU's fourth home loss of the season. However, with the Big East's best 6th man back for the spring semester, count on MU to play a solid game at home.

Dominic James, Jerel McNeal and Wesley Matthews have re-established this team's identity of late -- and with fine play from Ousmane Barro, Dan Fitzgerald and David Cubillan, the Golden Eagles are much more than a three-man show these days. Still, MU relies on the Triple Threat to establish the pace and pressure needed to win. Just ask Pittsburgh, Louisville, West Virginia and UConn.

Seton Hall (11-7 overall, 3-3 in the Big East) is in the midst of the ultimate up and down season. Bobby Gonzalez' Pirates have alternated wins and losses in each of their last 12 games. Weird.

Seton Hall is led by 6'5" junior Brian Laing, who is enjoying perhaps the biggest breakout season of any player in the Big East. Laing is scoring 17 points and hauling in more than 6 boards per game this season. As a sophomore, Laing was good for just five points and four boards a night.

Laing is complemented by one of the Big East's best freshman, point guard Eugene Harvey. Harvey, a teammate of David Cubillan's at St. Benedict's Prep, is averaging 16 points per game this season. Harvey is a terrific penetrator and finisher -- he's converting on 47% of his field goal attempts.

Best preview of all? Check out the SHU Rivals site.

Here's the MUScoop info sheet for tonight's game.

Here is the GoMarquette.com preview.

The Newark Star-Ledger preview is here.

Here's Rosiak's preview -- focused on Dominic James.

Here's the MarquetteHoops preview by Eric Silver.