The Great Marquette Escape

There are something to be said for coming away from a game no matter what sport where the team you cheer for won a game they should not have or things should have ended differently.  Some of those games are ones where your team trails for most of the game, and somehow found a way to win. The other version is where they blew a lead and really was not the better team heading down the stretch of the game.

The latter was Marquette as they found a way to get out of Chicago with a 96-94 overtime victory over DePaul. Golden Eagles get a big second half effort from Chris Otule plus big games from the bench but concerns have to remain about their defense for the final games of the season.

There are not many games in his long career with Marquette where the team could point Otule's play to be the difference in the game. But he played fantastic in the second half to keep the Golden Eagles in the game as they were on the ropes blowing a 15 point early second half lead. It is hard to fathom praising a center that did not even have a defensive rebound, but Otule pulled down four huge offensive rebounds that were all converted into points for him. If Marquette does not have Otule's offensive rebounds, they probably lose the game in regulation. Otule is probably the most likable guy on the Marquette roster, and it is always nice to see him get a feather in his cap late in his career.

Otule's strong second half play helped Marquette in a major way, but the bench of Davante Gardner and Todd Mayo proved to be equally big. Gardner bounced back from his Creighton game to have 22 points in variety of bursts throughout the game. He was at a standstill with eleven points all in the first half to come on with a strong finish getting another eleven. He got to line 16 times, the second-highest total for Gardner this season as he went 20 times against Southern. Five out of the six games where Gardner went to the line at least 10 times, the team won the game. Gardner is shooting 77 percent from the line and him getting their multiple times is crucial for this team to win basketball games.

Mayo had another great game going for 19 points where all of his points came from inside the 3-point arc or from the free throw line. This is great to see with Mayo. With all the bad shit that happened this season, one of the more encouraging things have been the growth of Mayo as a basketball player. He is not just a three-point shooter off the bench anymore, rather he is a guy that can be either a slasher or a three-point threat. The fact Mayo only shot one three tells me he is confident in his overall game versus not trusting his three right now even though he has not had one three since the game against Butler in early February.

Even with Mayo, Otule and Gardner giving a great offensive effort, Marquette's defensive effort was putrid at best. They pitched a shutout against DePaul for the first seven minutes of the game only to give up 41 points in the next 13. That's hard to believe as they are without their star player Cleveland Melvin. Marquette also let DePaul go 14/29 from three. The continued narrative for Marquette's defense is they cannot stop a good perimeter team. The last two games Marquette given up 26 threes. Golden Eagles need to find a better way to close out, or reconfigure their defense to stop allowing it to happen. If they can recreate their defense against Xavier last Saturday, Marquette will be golden.

Marquette is still desperately hanging on to the bubble. They are not on it as of today, but Golden Eagles still have a chance if they keep winning basketball games. Marquette gets a couple days off before a late night battle against Georgetown on Thursday, a game the Golden Eagles have to win.

Charlie.

Gardner Guides Marquette past DePaul

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.