Recruit report: Trevor Mbakwe video

Mark Miller at the WBBY and Wishoops.net has a couple of updates on MU signee Trevor Mbakwe -- -

click here to read the latest from Mark.

...and check out this outstanding video clip of Trevor in action. He's a playa!!

Video Interviews

Jonesing for some interviews of the team? TMJ4 has posted some great press-conference video interviews after the team got home from USF.

• DJ
• Wes
• Jerel
• Coach Rab

Each interview is 4-5 minutes long. Enjoy.

Props for the MU Women!

....by popular demand. Honest, I've been peppered with requests for an update on the nationally-ranked Marquette Women's basketball team for weeks now. In fact, one faithful reader who we will refer to as Smitty, offered to preview tonight's big tilt between MU and Rutgers at the RAC. Smitty, take it away.........

The Marquette women are searching for an impressive 20 wins tonight when the team plays Rutgers at the RAC.

It’s remarkable what sophomore guard Krystal Ellis and her teammates have been able to accomplish. Marquette is ranked 16/18th in the polls but still flies under the national radar with very little media attention. Terri Mitchell, much like Tom Crean, has quietly built and maintained a very strong and competitive basketball team during her year 10 years with an impressive 191-109 record, an average of over 19 wins per season - which includes eight trips to the postseason and six 20-win seasons.

Tonight and Saturday, Marquette gets an opportunity to see whether it can knock off some elite programs in Rutgers and particularly, when Marquette plays host to five-time national champion UCONN at The Al on Saturday.

Marquette hoops (men and women) have been fun to watch this year. And just think we’re only half way done with this season.

Providence game nearly sold out

According to the Marquette University athletic ticket office only single seats remain for this Saturday's game against the Providence Friars (and for that matter the Louisville and Pittsburgh games).

Sounds like the corners will be packed and a sellout is imminent!

Getting ready for Saturday: DWade in the spotlight

Saturday will be a big day at the Bradley Center. Sure, MU will look to even things up with the Providence Friars and collect their 20th win on the season......but the Golden Eagles should have some added incentive as well - DWade will be in the house.

We'll get to more of this later in the week, but on Saturday Dwyane Wade's jersey #3 will be retired. GoMarquette completed this write-up on Dwyane's big day.

All fans in attendance on Saturday will receive a limited edition Dwyane Wade figurine.

MU moves up to #14 and #15

The ESPN/USA Today and AP polls are both out and the voters peg MU as #14/#15.

As a reminder, we update rankings along with RPI-type of data on the blog every day -- just look to your right!

What's more, MU leads the Big East's official roundup -- read all about it here.

Homer call of the week: Vote for Steve True

UPDATE -- LOOKS LIKE VOTING IS CLOSED.

.......hey, it'd only be fitting if Steve 'The Homer' True could be honored as the 'Dan Patrick Show Homer Call of the Week' for his play-by-play of the McNeal steal/buzzer beater on Sunday.....and don't forget that Jim McIlvaine was part of that memorable call as well!

Click here and vote for Homer -- the poll is on the right margin.

Get out and vote for The Homer.

Amazing...MU wins at the buzzer 70-68

UPDATED
The 15th ranked Marquette Golden Eagles had a classic trap game in front of them and damned if the club didn't do everything possible to fall into that trap....but they didn't. An incredible finish on a Jerel McNeal steal and shot to win the game at 70-68 means MU moves to 19-4 on the season and 6-2 in the Big East.

MU started the game very cold on 1-12 shooting missing layup after layup. Despite the horrific shooting, they were able to get to the line and maintained a small lead for much of the first half. As the shooting picked up from the field, MU moved out in front by 6 points at the half, 35-29.

In the second half, MU maintained their 6 point lead until about the 14:30 minute mark when the Bulls went on a 15-5 run. From there it was back and forth until the final seconds.

The lead changed hands 10 times in the final 13 minutes with no team able to grab more than a 4 point cushion. The 3:03 mark saw Tom Crean's club trailing 64-60 after a Gransberry layup and the small USF crowd (4300 announced) fully engorged. MU setup an opportunity for Dan Fitzgerald and he did not disappoint. Fitz hit a huge 3-pointer just like he did in overtime against Pitt last week. The shot cut the lead to 1. The Bulls answered with a dunk pushing the lead up by 3 and forcing a timeout by Crean with 1:09 left.

MU went for the tie on the ensuing possession on a 3 ball by Wesley Matthews but he missed. McNeal, playing with four fouls, grabbed the offensive rebound and was fouled by Gransberry. The foul knocked the Bulls big man out of the game and sent McNeal to the line for two free throws. He converted one of two...MU trailed by 68-66 with :58 remaining.

After a wild play where USF appeared to throw the ball away but it hit the referee before going out of bounds and was saved by the Bulls. A timeout was called by their coach to settle the Bulls down. Coming out of the timeout, the Bulls Mattis got open for a layup but MISSED and Fitzgerald was there for the rebound with :26 left. MU pushed the ball hard up the court and Dominic James made a circus layup with 4 defenders crashing down on him. Game tied 68-68 with :14 left. USF advanced the ball and called a timeout with 9.6 seconds remaining.

At this point Crean had to be hoping for overtime. USF had been killing us on in-bound plays in the second half for dunks and layups consistently. With Gransberry fouled out, MU would probably have the advantage if they could get it to OT, though McNeal and Fitzgerald were playing with 4 fouls. No need. MU put it away at the end.

USF inbounded the ball and after one pass Jerel McNeal jumped the passing lane with 3.8 seconds left and went down the court with the ball. About 4 feet out he put up a shot that left his hand before the buzzer went off. The ball banked, hit rim, settled and dropped through just after the final red light went on. MU wins 70-68...amazing.

"I just read it, just trusted my instincts, and I was able to come up with the ball and make a big play at the end," McNeal said.

Classic trap game avoided.

Dominic James led Marquette with 16 points. Coach Crean revealed in the post game press conference that James was sick in the second half and had to fight through it. MU finished with four players in double figures and David Cubillian also added 9. Despite MU shooting only 38% from the floor and 67% from the line, they escape with the win.

MU has the week off as they prepare to play Providence on February 3rd and the retirement of the Dwyane Wade jersey.

Watch and listen to the win with these links:
Great stuff here - this YouTube video covers the game's final minute.

MUScoop has the ESPN highlights of the MU win -- including terrific footage of the game's deciding play.

Video Highlights including the last play (you have to deal with the USF fight song)

Here's the radio play by play of McNeal's amazing steal and buzzer beater via YouTube. WOW.

Media recaps
Todd Rosiak recap at Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The St Petersburg Times on the Bulls' tough home loss.

The Tampa Tribune recap.

MarquetteHoops' recap on Scout.com

Boxscore

AP Recap

MU to run with Bulls, USF

UPDATED: Wanna watch the game? See below.

On Sunday, 1pm CST, Marquette travels to Tampa to take on the USF Bulls at the Sun Dome. (p.s. The Sun Dome has it's own MySpace page, where you can check out who it's dating, and what kind of music it likes.)

The Bulls are having a rough year, and are currently 2-5 in the Big East, and at this point, have their sites set on not being one of the 4 BE teams that don't qualify for the BE Tournament in March. This may be difficult, as South Florida Blogger Brett McMurphy writes, the Bulls, according to Sagarin, won't win another game this year. That's a prediction no team wants. -- However, with MU's 5 game winning streak, the USF game presents the ultimate in "trap games" where a team flying high gets brought to earth by a team that shouldn't do so.

The Bulls have Melvin Buckley, 15.9ppg, 8th in the Big East, and McHugh Mattis, who with an 4.1 blocks per game, ranks 4th in the entire NCAA. -- Mattis recently had a 10 block game. -- Their five starters are responsible for a whopping 94% of their offense, so if you hear USF is reaching for the pines, it bodes well for the Warriors.

There is no television coverage of the game.

If WAUK has both hamsters powering their transmitter on Sunday, you can hear the game on 1510AM in select parts of the Milwaukee area. Otherwise, listen online. Also, if you have a moment, stop in to MUScoop's chat room during the game. With a radio-only game, there's usually a couple dozen MU fans chatting while listening.

UPDATE: Want to watch the USF/MU game? USF has a video stream you can purchase. $7.95 buys you 1 month of everything USF, including Sunday's game, it appears. I haven't seen the video quality, so can't exactly give it the Cracked Sidewalks Seal of Approval, but I've got eight bucks burning a hole in my pocket and will give it a whirl.

USF Media Guide

Game Notes from USF -- MU Game Notes

AP Preview (MU 6.5 point favorites.)

Happy Blogiversary to us

.....who knew!

We're still alive and kicking two years later here at Cracked Sidewalks. Many thanks to all of our readers and passers-by -- we appreciate your interest and feedback. We'll continue to do our best to be a viable contributor to the Marquette basketball community.

I want to also thank the contributors we've had on the blog, past and present, for making Cracked Sidewalks worthwhile - -

* Thread Killer
* muwarrior92
* Marquette 84
* mu_hilltopper
* marq_2000
* mutpm
* Warrior94

Thanks, fellas.

Finally, I'd like to thank the team at MUScoop for allowing us to cross-market our site within their community. Your support is much appreciated, thank you.

Marquette is #11 in CNNSI's power rankings

as ranked by Luke Winn. Check it out here.

Pirates walk the plank in Milwaukee

Home sweet home.

Marquette returned to the Bradley Center for just the third time this month and promptly blew out the visiting Seton Hall Pirates, 89-76. The Golden Eagles built a 20 point lead twice in the second half, but the feisty Pirates ripped off a 20 to 5 run tha cut the lead to just five with less than nine minutes to play. Still, Marquette weathered the storm and pulled away for the convincing victory.

Jerel McNeal led MU with 22 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds. Wesley Matthews also had 22 points, while Ousmane Barro poured in 13 points, all in the second half. Dominic James had 11 points. Marquette outscored the Pirates 38-2 in fast break points tonight -- incredible. MU shot 58% from the floor, including 41% from deep.

You've gotta wonder why Seton Hall head coach Bobby Gonzalez insisted on applying full court pressure for most of the night -- MU shredded those sets routinely. In the post-game intervew on the Seton Hall radio network, Gonzalez said that Marquette has "a special perimeter" and that McNeal might be the best guard he's seen all year. Gonzalez noted that "We could not turn them over. Their guards are so good with the ball."

With the victory the Golden Eagles move to 18-4 on the season and 5-2 in the Big East. The Golden Eagles travel to Tampa to take on South Florida this Sunday at 1pm CST. The Bulls clobbered Rutgers tonight, 62-40.


Post game interviews recapped by MUScoop.

Game photos from MUScoop.

Here's the AP recap.

Here is the box score.

Here is Todd Rosiak's recap.

MarquetteHoops recap is here. Nice job by Andrew Sharos.

Tonight's game on XM Radio as well

The Marquette vs Seton Hall game can be heard nationally on XM Channel 200 if you are subscriber to their service.

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.

Big time love for MU

Seth Davis of CNNSI.com devotes the lead of his latest column to the vastly improved Marquette Golden Eagles. Davis was on the MU bandwagon earlier this season -- picking the good guys to make it to the Final Four. That sounded great -- until MU s@#t the bed and lost to NDSU at home. It took a while to get Seth back on board (he picked Pitt to win on Sunday), but Mr. Davis is safely back on board.

Lets just hope that Davis' goodwill doesn't precede another unexpected loss for MU. Time to beat up Seton Hall. Read it all right here.

Pat Forde needed an MU fix this week as well. The Golden Eagles lead his list of "Real Men" of the road in college hoops......MU is #16 in his lastest installments of Forde Minutes.

Marquette-Pittsburgh: the best new rivalry in the expanded Big East

.....so says this blogger.

Sure the expanded Big East is not yet two full seasons old, but the first three tilts between MU and Pitt have been memorable battles:

1. Aaron Gray's 20 rebound effort in Pitt's late victory at the Pete last season following the Graves/James collision;
2. Aaron Gray morphing into Erin Gray at the Bradley Center late last season to help seal a victory for MU;
3. James making two free throws with 0.9 left in OT to lead MU to a win on the road this season. And don't forget about the Oakland Zoo's dislike for DJ's wink and posturing to the crowd after Sunday's game -- or Aaron Gray's elbow to David Cubillan's head that went unnoticed by the refs earlier in the afternoon;
4. Oh, and how about MU's win over the Panthers in the Sweet 16 round of the 2003 NCAA tournament.

While these teams don't have a long history, each matchup has been intense, passionate, hard-fought and memorable. I challenge you to find another 'new' Big East pairing that's developed the fever pitch we're already accustomed to seeing with the Panthers and Golden Eagles.

Now, I might be in the minority here. The guys at PittBlather don't think its a rivalry just yet, and they make a good case for it.

Jeff Greer at the Pitt News calls it a rivalry.

Marquette fans feel the rivalry emerging too. Check out this thread on MUScoop. And hey, the Pitt fans think its a rivalry .... at least the ones on their message boards. How about this thread on Tom Crean? Here's my favorite post in the thread:

As a Cincinnati fan I have seen plenty of Crean. He is a good coach who gets the most out of his players and puts up a fight in every game even when he has less talent on the floor. He does come off to other team's fans as a sh!thead though. However I have always had the feeling that if other team's fans hate my coach, he is doing a good job.

The Oakland Zoo blog -- check this out!

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Big East's best new rivalry.

SI subcribers: Marquette's Regal Eagle

I am not an SI subscriber but for those who are, click here to read their feature on Dominic James -- 'evoking memories of Dwyane Wade'.

Here is the link.....non-subscribers can read the first few paragraphs.

DIRECTV signs four year exclusive deal with CBS for Mega March Madness

A little shameless plug and a resource for those of you out of market fans that plan on watching the NCAA tournament this year with a hopeful appearance by Marquette. DIRECTV and CBS announced a four year exclusive extension to the NCAA Mega March Madness package this afternoon.

“From its inception, exclusive sports programming has set DirecTV apart as the leading multichannel provider of the world’s most important and exciting
sporting events,” CEO Chase Carey said in a prepared statement. “The NCAA Men’s
Basketball Championship is one of those unique events that capture the attention
of sports fans throughout the country, and DirecTV will bring our customers
every upset, buzzer-beater and Cinderella story.”

MultiChannel News Story


The package will be $69 and includes HD games as well as Mix Channel that allows you to watch 4 games at one time and utilize an interactive bracket to follow all of the action of your picks.

For complete details go here to www.directv.com/mmm

Dominic James: Big East player of the week

For the second consecutive week, Dominic James has been named the Big East conference player of the week.

Congrats, Dominic!

CNNSI's Cory McCartney took note of DJ's fine play this week -- and penned a Quick Hit on Milwaukee's Honor Guards.

The Golden Eagles' trio of sophomore guards is a pick-your-poison combination of brains (Wesley Matthews), brawn (Jerel McNeal) and a playmaker (James) -- a mix that forms one of the most talented backcourts in the country.

"We all bring something new to the table," James said. "You can put your best defender on one of us, but then you got other guards that can practically do the same thing. It's hard to find three defenders that can matchup with all of us when we're on the court."

Thread Killer speaks: Stunned?

Should Pitt feel stunned after losing to MU today? ESPN's headline for the recap of the MU vs. Pitt game is "Marquette blows big lead but stuns No.6 Pitt in OT."

Is stunned really an accurate description? Headlines like that reek of hyperbole and I don't believe Pitt thought that a victory against MU was a given. Pitt has been a strong team all year and has climbed to a top 10 ranking. MU has finally started to play some of its best basketball of the year again -- after a poor start to conference play -- and has regained the form that propelled them to a top 10 ranking in the early season. However, a quick check of each team's record against the top 25 is revealing. Pitt was a paltry 0-2 against the top 25 and one might argue that they have not lived up to their lofty ranking. MU was 3-1 against the best preceding today' s game.

Should Pitt really feel stunned?

Maybe surprised, disappointed, or let down are better descriptions after a loss. Pitt will rebound from this game and they won't let it paralyze them as the headline suggests.

MU escaped with a victory today on Pitt's home court, but they really had the game in check throughout. Given how we dominated for most of the game, I would have been stunned had we lost. MU's guards and Ousmane Barro were the main story of the game with Fitzgerald pouring in a strong supporting role. Pitt's Gray collected 16 points and 9 rebounds, but he was essentially not a factor and spent key stretches of the game on the bench. Pitt's guards are good, but today our guards were better.

Exhausted. Relieved. Relaxed. Those words describe how I feel after today's game.

If MU lays an egg against Seton Hall and loses, I will be disappointed. I won't be stunned.

[rant off]

Thread Killer

btw, check out the day-after assessment over at PittBlather.