For the second time in less than a week, Marquette had a double digit lead in the second half against an ACC team but could not bring home the victory. Last Sunday, MU led Florida State by 17 points in the second half and lost by 1 in the final seconds. Today, in front of the home town crowd at the Bradley Center, MU led by 11 entering the second half only to watch the North Carolina State Wolfpack steam roll them. A somewhat surprising development at North Carolina State was routed at home earlier this week by Northwestern.
Coach Buzz Williams again went with a 7 man lineup, this time hampered by a hip pointer injury to Jeronne Maymon which caused him to miss the game.
MU dominated the first half as they held NC State to just 25 points and cruised to a 36-25 halftime lead. Solid defense on Tracy Smith kept him to only 2 first half points. In the second half, however, NC State scored more than 50 points as MU turned the ball over continuously. Dwight Buycks, DJO and Lazar Hayward had 13 turnovers between themselves, stalling MU's offense and leading to some easy baskets for NC State.
Compounding problems for MU, Smith finally found his offense and torched the Golden Eagles for 17 second half points. NC State also found their stroke from deep as they missed only 1 long range bomb in the second frame and shot nearly 60% from behind the arc. Before MU knew what hit them, they were down by 13 points....a 24 point swing from the end of the first half. A furious comeback at the end failed to get Buzz's squad back over the top.
The final score was NC State 77, MU 73.
Jimmy Butler led the Golden Eagles with 19 points. Lazar Hayward finished with 15, a few points below his season average. DJO and Mo Acker chipped in double digits each for the game. Acker also finished with a team high 7 assists. For the game, MU shot a frigid 38% from the field.
MU's 24 game home court winning streak against non-conference teams comes to an end. Marquette moves to 6-2 on the season and on a 2 game losing streak.
Erik Williams did not play....coach's decision. Former Kentucky coach Billy Gillespie was in attendance. Buzz Williams was an assistant for Gillespie at Texas A&M.
Boxscore
Saturday, December 05, 2009
MU blows another double digit lead to ACC team in 2nd half
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3 comments:
A season for patience. Let's not forget what we expected going into this year. This squad will likely lose games it shouldn't and hopefully win a game or two it shouldn't. Inexperience coupled with a short bench is a tough combination for any program. Two season-ending injuries to two critical components certainly doesn't help matters and will make the hill even steeper than it was going into the season.
I'm afraid to think what our record could be if we didn't build half leads.
I don't understand what we are getting by not playing the Williams' and Mbao's of the world at least a minute or two, especially with a short bench. Only 7 guys playing? I understand the injuries, but...I just don't get it.
If it is a year of building for the future, why not give these guys time now? Because if they aren't good enough versus the likes of an NC State or UW-Milwaukee coming-up, they surely won't be able to handle the confines of the Big East.
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