The first 30 minutes of the DePaul-Marquette game felt like rock bottom. This team has been struggling all season, but not to the level where they would be trailing everyone's little brother DePaul by 10 points in the second half at home. Marquette had not lost to DePaul at home since 2001 when I was in sixth grade. Things honestly looked grim for Marquette, but Davante Gardner took control of the game giving Marquette a bolt of energy it needed. Could this be a turning point in the season, or did Golden Eagles just take care of business against a team they are supposed to beat plus what's up with JaJuan Johnson's minutes? The thing that stuck with me from this game is Marquette could have easily quit in this game and let DePaul win this basketball game. Basketball is probably the one sport when you can definitely see a team quit and Golden Eagles definitely could have laid down letting DePaul win this basketball game, but they did not allow it to happen. Instead, they started nailing down some 3-point shots which in turn opened up the middle for Gardner whose been struggling as of late. He stepped up in the moment after being called out by his coach, Buzz Williams earlier in the week for his sluggish play.
The head coach had a right to call out Gardner. There is really no leader on this basketball team which is another story for another blog post, but some player needed to grab this team by the collective balls, possibly that player is Gardner which would be my assumption as to why Williams targeted Gardner. Marquette's big man in the last four games before DePaul, he managed only 32 total points and barely grabbed down any rebounds. He still struggled a bit from the rebounding angle getting only six against the Blue Demons, but that is still an upgrade from what Gardner's output has been in the last couple of games. A leader sometimes is not a player who is yelling and screaming rather a player making the biggest plays in the game. It was 40-30 DePaul with 15 minutes left, and Gardner plus the others ended the game on a 30-16 run which was 30-9 before a late 7-0 DePaul run. Marquette found their stride in the final 15 minutes.
Out of all the things that happened with the game, maybe the most puzzling thing is the lack of minutes for freshman JaJuan Johnson. There is definitely a feel that Williams is not really keen on playing many freshmen. I have no idea how Johnson at least gets 10-15 minutes a game to give Jake Thomas a breather. Honestly, I have no idea why him or Deonte Burton does not start over him at this point. Even though Thomas had some clutch 3-pointers on Saturday, he is nowhere near a starter in the Big East or any power conference. Against Samford, Johnson gave Marquette 25 minutes and had 14 points yet in the first two conference games, he played a full seven minutes all against Creighton. There seems like a disconnect there. Hopefully whatever issue Williams has with Johnson against high quality teams dissolves sooner rather than later.
It is hard to tell what to expect from Golden Eagles moving forward even with their win against DePaul. Like this is a team they are supposed to beat meaning this win should not be a rallying cry for a 'saving of the season' at this point. There is a long way to go, and as I mentioned on Friday, expectations should not be very high right now meaning it is okay to take what is given right now. Xavier on the road Thursday will be a true test and Seton Hall at home this next weekend will not be an easy task either.
Charlie.
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