Marquette Seniors End on a Sour Note

Marquette Golden Eagles closed the final chapter on their most depressing season in the last decade. A team projected to win the Big East in its inaugural year with its new members did not come anywhere close to its expectations.  If there could be a bright light at the end of the tunnel, Marquette could win their final home game for the seniors against St. John's. but it did not happen as the Golden Eagles lost their second straight game on Saturday. Red Storm swept Marquette beating them in double overtime, 91-90.

Confession time... I work a good amount of Saturdays meaning some Marquette games I watched later in the weekend on the DVR. It was the same this week, but my DVR decided to cut it off after 15 minutes of running (Thanks, Time Warner!) meaning I feel wrong about giving you a recap without watching most of the game. Instead of trying to BS my way through a recap, let's look at all of the seniors and what they meant for the team for their duration of their careers.

Chris Otule - One of the most well-liked players in Buzz Williams' tenure. Otule never really broke through on the offensive end, but he did so many good things for Marquette as their big man. Otule is a complete leader on the team, and he will be absolutely missed in the years to come when it comes to leadership. I will forever and ever be interested to see what happened to Otule if he had one knee injury versus multiple injuries throughout his seven-year career at Marquette.

Davante Gardner - BIG SMOOOOVE.  Gardner went from one of my favorite players to a favorite with a massive deficiency in his senior year. I guess I never realized how bad a defender Gardner was until his senior year, but it showed in a major way this season. Gardner did have a good career with the team without question when people wondered if he would be able to produce with his height and weight. There is a lot to be said for a player that can just throw up the basketball to the rim, and it somehow goes in more times than not. If he actually gave a shit as a defender, he would be a second round draft pick.

Jamil Wilson - Man. I wish this could be a more positive paragraph, but he never reached his potential in his four years. People expected Wilson to make a step this season, and maybe vault himself into the draft yet that did not happen. Continually, he disappeared from basketball games where he would score 10 points quickly then fade away for the next 10 to 15 minutes.  Wilson had a great skill set of power, speed and ability to shoot the basketball. This might be one of the greatest 'What if''s of the Marquette program. Because if Wilson played to his potential, Golden Eagles would have had a greater program at this point.

Jake Thomas - I criticized Thomas for the whole year because of his inconsistent play along with his lack of defense. At the beginning of February,  a friend asked me 'Why does he play so much' and I could not provide a reasonable answer. Now, he finished the year pretty strongly with some big games here and there so that's good for him. He redeemed himself from the earlier part of the season. But if Thomas getting an inordinate amount of playing time leads to a Marquette transfer as Rubie Q of Anonymous Eagle and others have hypothesize, that will be a death knelt to anything Thomas did during his time with the team.

Derrick Wilson - Watching UW-Milwaukee play UW-Green Bay, it became clear the two point guards in the game were better than anything Marquette trotted out a daily basis. Who knows if Jordan Aaron or Kiefer Skyes guard would be better than Wilson, but the fact of the matter that I at least gave it some thought speaks volume about the point guard play for Marquette this season from its senior. You would imagine with a senior point guard, there would be some definite leadership and he could put the team on his shoulders when they needed it the most yet that did not happen at all throughout the duration of the season.

These five seniors will always be looked at differently given what happened this season. They would be seen in a different light if they kept the winning tradition alive instead they will be looked at as the ones whom were privileged from the prior success and thought everything came easy which it did not.

Charlie.

The Providence Knockout

AMC does theme weeks almost every week with their movies. This week, it has been the Rocky saga. If Rocky, I really have no time for you as an individual, but I digress. Marquette-Providence felt a little bit like Rocky II even though Providence is nowhere near an 'Apollo Creed' of college basketball and Marquette is not a 'Rocky' of the sport either instead one is on the rise for the first time in years and the other is a great disappointment.
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The reason it felt like the movie is Marquette took all sorts of punches from Providence throughout the game and battled back to have a lead late in the game. Friars forced overtime and a second one where they were victorious, 81-80, where Marquette had Providence on their heels yet failed to deliver the final knockout punch.  Derrick Wilson turning in one of his worst games of his starting career aided the problems for Marquette as well as Buzz Williams keeping two timeouts in his pocket along with another disappointing effort from Jamil Wilson and how Todd Mayo has become my Marquette little brother.

Unlike others around college basketball, Derrick Wilson is finishing off his senior season with a complete whimper. The last couple of games have been quite the disappointment for Wilson. This game was no different. The worst came from him in the waning moments of the game. The worst of it being his fifth foul of the game where he reached for a jump ball against Providence's star Bryce Cotton instead of playing defense in the final Friar possession of the game. Cotton made both free throws and won the game. Wilson is known for his defense; that's why Buzz has him out there yet Derrick did not trust him to make a stop against Cotton whom without question was taking the final shot of the game. Such a shame. Let's also not forget he walked the ball up with only 10 seconds left in the first overtime period with no sense of urgency causing a terrible final possession and a bad travel as well. In the end, Wilson put a bun on the dumpster fire sandwich he had on Tuesday night.  

The reason why Cotton got the two free throws were not all Wilson's fault. Marquette had a one-point lead and got the ball back after Providence had a slashing basket. There were 10 seconds left and Williams had two timeouts left. Jake Thomas caught the inbound  pass and instead of trying to dribble or pass to keep the ball away from Providence, he anticipated the foul. With that, Cotton went for the ball and forced a jump ball giving the Friars an extra possession. If Williams gets a timeout there, Marquette at least gets another chance to make a three-point game at the free throw line. I have no idea why no one is thinking about the timeout there. I am sorry, but the ineptitude of this team is mind-blowing. Wilson and Thomas's plays were stuff you would see at the local high school when the freshman team plays, not a high level college basketball team.

The other Wilson on the team was not much better on Tuesday with another game where Jamil Wilson rode the struggle bus in a major way. Jamil's stat line was a sight for sore eyes as he went 4/15 from the field having only eleven points with only getting to the free throw line twice. The senior forward threw up countless mid-range jumpers and nothing was falling for him. The refusal for Wilson to take it to the tin is stunning and amazing. The guy is a beast in size but the mentality of Jamil is that of a soaking wet 140 pound point guard. He could easily be a four with his size on countless teams, but instead, he is a three scared to attack the lane. Everyone will look back on Jamil's career and wonder what if for the next couple of years.

There is such a love/hate relationship right now with Todd Mayo. He did some really dumb things on Tuesday night. He had three turnovers, fouled a guy twice on attempting a three which are bad; Mayo also had 26 points, eleven rebounds and made four threes which are good. While fouling a guy twice on a three is horrible, you cannot say Mayo did not hustle his ass off and attempt to make a play on the ball. Sure it was stupid, but at least he gives a damn. I do not know if I can say about every player on this roster, but I can about Mayo. Let's hope Mayo stays out of trouble in the coming months and has the ability to be a great senior for this team because I believe the future is still bright for him.

For those wondering, Marquette will need a Big East tournament win to be in the tournament. If that happens, they are likely a 12 or a 13 at best so I do not know if you want it.  Marquette has a chance to close out strong and play spoiler against St. John's on Saturday morning in the two Wilsons, Chris Otule, Davante Gardner and Jake Thomas' final game.

Charlie.  

Big East Ref Show Tour Makes a Stop in Milwaukee

College basketball games are supposed to take about two hours roughly to finish. 45 minutes or so for the first half and another 45 minutes for the second with minutes for halftime. Georgetown and Marquette took two hours and 25 minutes to finish on Thursday night. The game featured 51 fouls including two horrid technicals but in the end, we need a winner which was Marquette, 75-73.  Golden Eagles had big games from Davante Gardner, Jake Thomas and Marquette is not dead yet.

But back to the #REFSHOW that took place in Milwaukee on Thursday night. Wonder if the ticket stubs had 'Come see the Refs featuring Georgetown-Marquette!'  Personally if I am a Georgetown fan, I would be more pissed than I am this morning. Not just because the Hoyas fell in a must-win game, but due to the officials fouling out two big men with two others playing with four fouls as Nate Lubick and Moses Ayegba left before the 10 minute mark of the second half. Georgetown received the worst end of the stick when it came to the officials and if I am the Hoyas, I would be livid at the officiating.

Big East needs to send out a memo if this how the officials are going to ref the games moving forward. A must-win game became unwatchable rather quickly and that's a shame. Hopefully, they can find a balance where there are some calls here and there, maybe some questionable ones, but let's have a flow to this game versus every time down a whistle appears. Related, I went three paragraphs without complaining about how Marquette missed eleven free throws that nearly cost them the game shows how bad both ways these officials were for the full 40 minutes.


With the officials fouling the Georgetown big men out, Davante Gardner saw blood in the water like an oversized shark. He ended the game with 26 points and seven rebounds. Bradley Hayes is seven foot, but Gardner made him look like a dwarf out there dominating in the lane. To Marquette's credit, they kept feeding the beast in the second half and did not waver from it minus a couple shots from Todd Mayo that would make Russell Westbrook blush. When Gardner is at his best, we see the wide array of post moves he has to offer plus he draws fouls which he did going to the line 12 times. In the last two games, Gardner is averaging 24 points, hopefully this is a sign of a big late season push from the Marquette big man.

If you read this blog, I heavily criticized Jake Thomas throughout the year with wondering why he played and why others guys were not playing. But in the last couple games, Thomas has been great. He had a career-high 22 points making six of nine from 3-point range last night. He hit all shots in rhythm plus Thomas looked confident as ever to nail down these big threes. Nothing better than to see him turn around season. I am more than happy to eat crow with Thomas. While 22 points should not be the expectation, let's hope he starts becoming a 10 to 15 points a game threat in these final games of the season.

There are couple other news and notes from this one. Juan Anderson had four points which is above his average, but he seemed more confident than he has in the past couple of games. Because of Thomas and Gardner's play, we will sort of forget how Jamil Wilson only had three points and Mayo only had six points. Even though he did not score, I liked a lot of what I saw from John Dawson in this one. Finally, 20 assists for Marquette will likely win them ball games. The ball movement was as good as I have seen it from this squad.

Marquette is still not dead for NCAA Tournament talk. They are like a zombie where Marquette keeps wavering around yet no one can seem to kill them. Golden Eagles take on their final marquee game of the season in a road trip against eighth-ranked Villanova. This is a great chance for the Golden Eagles to become more than just a zombie.

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An Unlikely Duo of Thomas & Wilson Powers Marquette

Marquette basketball season has been one where not much went right. But in the last couple weeks, it seems like the Golden Eagles are finally starting to figure things out. They have now won three straight games after beating Xavier, 81-72 in front of a packed house at the Bradley Center, and the team appears to be rounding into form. Golden Eagles received great effort from Jake Thomas, Derrick Wilson's continued strong play and Marquette once again being able to close out a victory.

If you read this blog or follow me on Twitter, there is no one I am harder on than Jake Thomas. The reason I harbor this anger towards Thomas is I feel he takes up time from other guys whom could be contributing in more ways than what Thomas does for the team. But on Saturday, he served me and the rest of the Marquette fan base a heaping pile of crow. Thomas drilled six three pointers as well as going 5-5 to begin the game and became the difference for Marquette. In their short time of being conference foes, Thomas has a personal ownership over Xavier with eleven threes and scoring 35 points in two games against them.

Let's hope this is not a blip on the radar for Thomas. Maybe this jump starts him a bit for the final part of the season. The expectations are not 15-20 points honestly, rather Thomas making a couple threes for Marquette to add some outside scoring. It becomes frustrating when he does not have even an attempt midway through the second half. Thomas' ability to make threes makes Marquette's offense more open than it is when the threes are not falling for this team. This also means I need to keep quiet on Thomas for at least a couple games unless something terrible happens with him. Thomas showed his worth on Saturday afternoon.

Another player whose been heavily criticized throughout the year, Derrick Wilson, put together one of his better games of his career.  Wilson had nine points, four assists and a career-high six steals. Also not showing up in the box score is how well he defend Xavier star Semaj Christon holding him to 10 points. Chirston was the difference in the first game these two teams played as he had 28 points, and Wilson along with other Marquette guards shut him down.  Wilson's last five games have been a revelation of sorts with him doing enough to fill up the box score in one way or another. For the second straight season, the point guard is justifying his head coach's decision by the end of the year.

A couple things that might get lost in the shuffle with how good Thomas and Wilson were on Saturday was Jamil Wilson having a quiet 16 points which is his third straight game with 15 points or more. Wilson continues to put together a strong February after the St. John's disaster. Additionally, Marquette once again took care of business from the free throw line making 24 of 27 meaning in the last two games, Golden Eagles have shot 61 free throws only missing seven of them. That's how you win basketball games. Another way to win basketball games is a turnover differential ratio of 19 to five. Marquette took care of business in all facets of the game.

Many people want to have NCAA Tournament aspirations after this game, but as Anonymous Eagle points out, it is way too early to have that conversation. Even if they beat Creighton, it seems like it could be too early to start talking that way. I agree with the usual great AE, but what I found interesting is Todd Fuhrman, a Las Vegas sharp, has Marquette in as an eleven seed playing UConn in the first round with Kentucky being the three seed in the bracket. This system is not a typical bracketology rather looking at all of Vegas' numbers.  One thing I have learned through my formative years is Vegas always knows better than all of us.

Instead of worrying about the bubble, why not let's just have fun for the first time this season with Marquette. In a couple weeks if the winning continues, we can get things bubbling.

Charlie.

A Marquette's Victory Sandwich with Heaps of Mayo

Marquette Golden Eagles trailed by 10 points with 15 minutes left in the game to lowly Butler Bulldogs team. This is not your older brother's Butler team as they only holds two Big East wins in conference, and frankly not very good this season. Combined with Marquette's effort against St. John's, their poor play for the first 25 minutes of this game, the feeling became like the Golden Eagles may have packed in the season and gave up completely on their chances to turn around the season essentially accepting mediocrity.

Except when they hit the lowest of lows, they bounced back with a vengeance. Marquette came back to beat Butler, 69-62, in a second half that featured Marquette doubling their point total from the first half along with a coming out party of sorts for Todd Mayo, Golden Eagles most reliable player. They willed this game away from Butler, and once again put themselves at .500 in the Big East chaos in the middle.

Mayo does not have the cleanest record with Marquette or their fanbase. He missed half of his sophomore year to sort things out. He hung out in the offseason with brother O.J., of the then Dallas Mavericks in South Africa missing team activities raising speculation. Mayo also missed the Wisconsin game this year for a violation of team rules. But like teams, sometimes it takes a player a long time to figure their shit out, and who they are as a person. Signs point to Mayo growing into a different player and potentially a star player.

After Marquette escaping Seton Hall, I made a mention about Mayo becoming a star on this team. No one really found me crazy, but no one really agreed with me either. I am not trying to call myself Marqustradamus, but man, something seemed different with Mayo. He played fully engaged and did not worry about making a mistake plus his clutch free throws against Seton Hall and Villanova for that matter is something that cannot be taught. Since then, Mayo sent the Georgetown game to overtime in a comeback victory, nearly won the Villanova game by his damn self scoring the last 10 points and played a great second half versus Butler on Tuesday night.

There are still some flaws in Mayo's game, but he deserves to be playing 30 or more minutes without question. I have no idea if he has a Manu Ginobili quirk with starting, but regardless, Mayo should be a 30+ minute player for the rest of the season. The team is better when he is on the court. The thing that is dangerous about Mayo is he can make a 3-pointer in an opponent's face then take him to the lane on the subsequent possession. He is not just a 3-point shooter nor just a slasher, Mayo is balanced instant offense when he gets started up like he did on Tuesday night against Butler. Hopefully, things have clicked and he is ready for a major February and March.

Along with Mayo, Marquette seemed to really have a rotation that worked for them with a four guard lineup with Chris Otule in the middle. It featured Derrick Wilson, Jake Thomas, Deonte Burton, Mayo and Otule. They played great together, and even with Otule, they played fast and aggressive. This needs to be one of the rotations for Buzz Williams, and find a version of this involving the likes of Jamil Wilson and Davante Gardner. The rotation issue appears to be a Rubix Cube for Williams, and maybe he has at least solved a fourth of it.

Jamil deserves a mention for his play today even though his minutes in the second half became limited with foul trouble. Wilson had 17 points with six rebounds including the only one to have a great first half for Marquette. Everyone put Jamil on a pedestal to start the season. Everyone expected him to be a star, and simply put, he will never be a star rather just a complementary good player. While it is annoying with his fouls and disappearing in the offense, Wilson has scored in double-digits now in seven of Marquette's nine Big East games. So while there is a disappointment about his play this season, it may not be as bad of a season as some want to say it is for Wilson.

Marquette gets a week off meaning they will have ample time to prepare for Seton Hall, a team they beat soundly for 30 minutes and then fell apart late yet held on for victory. Additionally, they head to an arena that has given them all sorts of trouble and both teams are in the mix with six teams within two games of third place in the Big East. Let's see if the Golden Eagles can do the unthinkable and win two straight games. It has happened before.

Charlie.

Lineup Shakeups Lead to Marquette Victory

It is pretty much do or die game for Marquette Golden Eagles as they took on Providence Friars on Thursday night. They are nowhere near the bubble right now for the NCAA Tournament, and if they wanted to make a push, Golden Eagles needed a victory on Thursday night against an emerging Providence team who had won four straight games prior to playing last night. Marquette took down Providence, 61-50 with a big first half including a new way to do lineups even if there is still some ironing out to do plus Buzz Williams needs to stop acting like Marquette's fanbase is filled of soccer moms and dads.

Much of the criticism in the last couple weeks has been the play of Derrick Wilson and Jake Thomas including how many minutes they get in the game, Williams decided to change up the lineup on Thursday and it worked pretty damn well. JaJuan Johnson and Deonte Burton both started their first collegiate game, and the first time two freshman have started for Marquette since February 24th, 2012 against West Virginia. Burton and Johnson had immediate impact contributing with points and rebounds extending Marquette lead early. I have no idea if this starting lineup will continue, but at least both of them showed they were not too big for the moment.   

Golden Eagles never trailed in this game although it feels like there were moments in this game where Marquette seemed to be discombobulated. Williams put these guys in like hockey line shifts, and at times, it did work for this squad. Some of the units were not perfect, but some excelled. Nine players saw 10 or more minutes in the game, and one could wonder if some of these guys never got a feel for things, but most did seem comfortable. What might show through in the tape when Providence made their 16-0 run in the second half was Wilson and Thomas were both in the game at that time for most of the run. Wilson actually did play an above average game with four steals and eight assists yet there are still defects. We really do not need to waste words on Jake Thomas. It is the same thing we have been saying for the last month. 

This really felt like a kitchen sink game for Marquette and Williams. Golden Eagles threw in everything, but the kitchen sink in this one trying to figure out what will work for them moving forward this season.  Will it be this way for the rest of the year? No I do not think so, but I feel like it should be expected for St. John's this Saturday as it did not all work for Marquette tonight. There is nothing wrong with this attitude either from Williams. Throwing shit to a wall and seeing what sticks is not a bad way to go about things, and hopefully Williams will not shy away from it. 

Buzz Williams on hearing MU fans boo in the second half: "Maybe as disappointed as I've been as the head coach since I've been here." #mubb
— Andrew Gruman (@AndrewGruman) January 31, 2014

Someone needs to let Williams know not everything is going to be rainbows and unicorns. Green Bay Packers got booed multiple times this season and made the playoffs. Hell, they were booed IN THE PLAYOFFS. Aaron Rodgers does not condone booing, but he usually realizes the frustration giving fans a pardon.  Booing is a stupid thing honestly, but it is a part of some fans' nature. Williams needs to worry about what's happening on the hardwood versus hearing a couple jerkoffs booing aimlessly. He is the king of the Marquette castle, but at the same time, there needs to be a little humility there. The attitude of 'How dare they boo MY TEAM' is the type of stuff that turns fans off from following the basketball team. 

Marquette heads to New York City for a Super Bowl tripleheader that became a complete dud with the Golden Eagles not having the best season, Georgetown struggling and St. John's also being a disappointing team. The last time these two played in the regular season, this happened....  

The Marquette Guard Problem

If Marquette wanted to make a run at the bubble, it probably meant getting a marquee win against number four ranked Villanova on Saturday afternoon. Marquette had won 20 straight conference games at home, and Bradley Center figured to be rocking following the Golden Eagles big overtime victory on Monday night at Georgetown. After a spirited Marquette comeback to somehow force overtime, Villanova pulled away in the extra period winning the game, 94-85 dealing the Golden Eagles yet another defeat against an upper echelon team.

This is a classic game where the Wildcats had an answer for Marquette every time they tried to make it close whether it be a big three or Nova getting a key offensive rebound leading to them finding a way to separate themselves. Marquette tying the game at the end of regulation was the closest it had been since 22-21 favoring Villanova. Simply put, this game is a stellar example of why Marquette is an average basketball team compared to be an above average tournament-worthy team, and how Buzz Williams' mismanagement of this roster cost the team another win.

In the last couple years, Williams did a great job making the most of a marginal roster at times finding the right combinations of players to be great together. This year, Williams deals with injuries to Duane Wilson and others as well as Jameel McKay's transfer right before the season. Williams continues to play Jake Thomas and Derrick Wilson despite the evidence on the court showing these two players are eighth and ninth guys on tournament rosters while on a deep team, they are probably playing garbage time. Rasheed Wallace once said 'Ball don't lie', but apparently, Williams does not buy into that theory. 

Villanova always has a talented array of guards with the likes of Scottie Reynolds, Randy Foye, Allen Ray and others. They are good, but in no way are they good enough to outscore Thomas and Wilson by 64 points as James Bell had 30 points, Ryan Arcidiacono and Darrun Hillard II both had 20 points giving them 70 for the game. If you add Todd Mayo as Marquette's third guard, they still get outscored 70-24. That is completely inexcusable, and hopefully, the wake up call Williams needs to see the Golden Eagles need to do something else because this clearly is not working. Worst part of it all might be Thomas did not have a shot attempt until five minutes left in the game. Think about that for a second given what his role is on this basketball team. 

I would love to hear Williams explain why Jajuan Johnson, Deonte Burton, Mayo (Smaller scale) and John Dawson could do any worse. The more infuriating thing was Dawson played his ass off on Monday and keyed the comeback for Marquette yet he only played eight minutes on Saturday. Johnson did not even sniff the court while Burton's time continued to decrease as he only played five minutes. In the last four games, Burton is averaging 5.25 minutes a game while between December 1st-January 9th, Burton averaged 17.77 minutes a game. Did he pooped in the refrigerator at practice or what? None of this really makes sense. 

There is really no reason why Marquette could not basically just have a 'ride the hot hand' situation at guard. It does not matter who starts honestly, but rather, if a player is feeling it, keep them out there versus relying on Thomas and Wilson to make things happen on their own. Relying on those two is like hoping a seven-year battery will be able to start in a polar vortex... Doubtful.

Marquette faces an emerging Providence team on Thursday night whose guard play is one of the better in the Big East. Maybe it is not the players on the court rather the man whom patrols the sidelines that needs to be figure out a way to make these guards come alive because right now, it is not working.

Charlie.  

Faith in Marquette Renewed (For Now)

Sports fans need faith. They do not survive without faith. If there is no faith, it is an eternal attitude that everything will go wrong. I lost my faith in Marquette basketball with four minutes left to go in the game against Georgetown. I finally gave up. Butler game made me have one foot out the door, but I needed one more bad outing to convince myself all hope was officially lost with this Golden Eagles team. Marquette somehow found their way back to force overtime despite a couple bad officiating calls and won the game in overtime with unlikely contributors John Dawson and Steve Taylor Jr. delivering big games off the bench leaving Buzz Williams with an inevitable decision to make on Saturday.

Marquette trailed 60-53 with three minutes left to go in the game. This spot felt familiar as Marquette had many games where they fought to the wire, but in the end, they came up just short. It really started to feel like this team was living inside one big Linkin Park music video. Jake Thomas rattled home a 3-pointer which concluded his scoring and his weird day as Thomas had a good game with two mind-boggling three point attempts. It is the same sort of love/hate relationship with him as it was with Junior Cadougan. Thomas cut the lead to four, and things began to get interesting from there.

The teams would trade buckets down the stretch including a big Jamil Wilson dunk, a shot-clock violation that was not called on Georgetown rather reversed in the Hoyas favor and a foul call on Thomas where he clearly forced Markel Starks to travel or at least get a jump ball. Starks had a great night with 28 points, but he missed the most important shot of the night clanking the first free throw with Georgetown up only two opening the door for Marquette. Starks would convert the second free throw giving the Hoyas a three point advantage giving the Golden Eagles one final possession to win the game.

This is sort of an issue because Marquette does not really have that go-to scorer. Jamil brought the ball up and honestly think Jake Thomas might have been the option because Starks recovers quickly leading to Todd Mayo being wide-open for a three. Mayo went cold-blooded on everybody nailing the jumper and sending the game to overtime, the second straight extra period for the Golden Eagles. But in this one, Golden Eagles battled back to force it and rode the wave to victory versus the inverse last Saturday. While it is not saying much, this is the first signature win for Marquette in the 2013-2014. 

The two players opening up the most eyes were John Dawson and Steve Taylor Jr. Dawson, the freshman point guard from New Mexico did not really come in with much hype out of high school. He played nothing like a freshman on Monday night delivering 12 points including a big three in overtime to push Marquette to a seven point lead in the extra period. Dawson also committed his fourth foul with 13 minutes left in the game, and he played the duration meaning even with a tight officiating crew, Dawson ensured he did not pick up his fifth. This is a guy who can lead a team and deserves to be starting over Derrick Wilson. It appears the writing on the wall with Wilson only getting 12 minutes versus Dawson's 31, but you never know with Buzz.  

It has not been the greatest year for Taylor Jr. He dealt with a knee injury, and lost his starting spot after the first two games because of it. He came up big in his first real minutes since November having 14 points and eight rebounds. Taylor Jr. made aggressive moves to the basket. He did not play afraid. Too many times Marquette plays scared, and Taylor Jr did not play that way. He took it right to a big front line of Georgetown and did with success. If he can give Marquette a solid 20 to 25 minutes with this production, this becomes a different team.  

Marquette battled back to win this game. Even at 8:00 pm tonight, if you were to tell me this team would pull off this win in that fashion, I would call bullshit. This was a great win for them and something they can build on. Marquette welcomes number four Villanova to town Saturday afternoon as the Wildcats are coming off a 28-point home loss. They will be ready to make statement. But you know what? For the first time in a long while, the faith I have Marquette will be ready to handle it is strong.  

Charlie. 

Bad Second Half Bites Marquette

It is never a good thing to play a team needing a win. No matter what the sport is, the scariest thing is playing a desperate team on the road. Marquette dealt with this on Saturday playing Butler at Hinkle Fieldhouse, a place where they had lost three straight games, something they have not done since 1990. It seemed for awhile Marquette had control of this game, but once again, the second half turned into a complete disaster for a variety of reasons, some of them fall on their head coach Buzz Williams, and I begin to wonder if he is officially lost on this team.

Marquette is the worst scoring offense in the Big East while Butler is the worst scoring defense in the Big East (Granted some of that is overtime-related, but they are not great whatsoever) meaning something had to give in this one. It seemed like Marquette figured it out a bit with a strong first half, and a strong four minutes out of halftime, something this team and other Golden Eagles teams have struggled with in the past. But the ugly side of this team reared its head as Marquette stopped hitting shots all together and Butler started hitting them putting the Bulldogs ahead late in the game. Golden Eagles somehow forced overtime due to missed free throws, poor execution from Butler, but in all, Williams mismanaged his bench leading to this team being dead tired when overtime rolled around.

The clearest example of this is the fact Marquette gave up 20 points in overtime. While they are not a good offensive team, Marquette is not that bad defensively especially against a team like Butler. They were all tired. No reason whatsoever with Marquette's limited depth that Davante Gardner is playing 42 minutes and Jake Thomas is playing 39 especially when this team has a game tonight against Georgetown (Davante getting a double-double is encouraging though, just wish he would try a touch more on defense). I understand this was an important game to win, but at the same time, this is a better team when the minutes are balanced versus relying on a starting five that really is not elite in any shape or form. It is like Williams channeled his inner Tom Thibodeau for this one.

Another real issue I had with Williams was the strategy of the game. Khyle Marshall had a hell of an afternoon for Butler, but he cannot make free throws to save his soul. Marquette trailed 48-45 with two minutes left in the game, and they could have employed a hack-a-Marshall. This is not a popular method to play basketball, but Golden Eagles extend the game a bit giving them more of a chance to win versus relying on a tired defense. Granted it did not matter in the long run as overtime happened, but you never know if Marquette gets a couple extra possessions. I do not know if Williams is resting on his laurels thinking teams of old figured it out so why cannot these guys, or he just does not really have a concept on how to deal with more ineptitude than usual?  

I think it is a little bit of both. Williams is not free of criticism. This is not a good basketball team, but it does not help things when Williams runs this team into the ground combined with relying that things will just turn around for them. Things need to change with the lineup. I mean it is clearly not working for a full game. They have their spurts, and what needs to be figured out if how to put all those spurts together for a complete game. It is pretty clear that this is not a tournament team by any means whatsoever, and there is nothing to really make me think a light can just switch on for this squad.

People will compare it to 2010-2011 when Marquette slid into the tournament as an eleven seed. They were 15-11 at a time and finished with 14 losses yet they played in an amazing Big East that year meaning most of their losses were expected. This is not a good conference right now meaning Marquette's chances are more doubtful. They play another team in Georgetown where it is a team in desparate need of a win, good thing Marquette needs one too.

Charlie.

Five Ways to Improve Marquette Basketball

Seton Hall-Marquette game really summed up the season for this Golden Eagles team. It really did show a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde performance from this team with a great first half to have a putrid second half almost costing this team a home victory against the Pirates. Honestly, if this game went for five more minutes, there is no doubt in my mind that Marquette loses this basketball game. So here is the question that probably cannot be answered, 'How do we get the Marquette from the first half all the time?' I am going to attempt to make five suggestions.

1.) 3-pointers are not friends of Marquette - For the last two years, Marquette cannot shoot from the outside. They had a good night at Xavier where they made six threes on 13 attempts. That is a good night shooting from the outside for Marquette's standards. They really should only shoot about that total give or take for most of the games. Golden Eagles shot 10 threes in the second half and missed them all. Is there any other reason why this team nearly lost the game?  Nope. That is unacceptable for this team. Golden Eagles are their best when they are striking towards the basket and making plays rather standing around the outside trying to make something happen. 

2.) Jake Thomas experiment needs to end - I have no idea what's happening here with Thomas. I cannot explain it. My buddy and biggest Badger homer I know, Doz, asked me at the bar Saturday 'What's up with Jake Thomas getting all these minutes, I do not know if he plays at all on the worst Bo Ryan Badgers team.' When your Wisconsin friends are saying things like that, it probably needs to come to an end. Thomas is providing this team with nothing playing 30 minutes a game. He had open looks from 3-point land where is his quote 'specialty' and Thomas clanked all of them. FOX Sports analyst Kevin O'Neil basically called him useless, but he said it in a more polite manner. Marquette has too much talent on this roster to keep trotting out Thomas for more than 20 minutes a night. Further Thomas' effectiveness might be better out there for a shorter period of time instead because he spends a ton of energy on defense due to his lack of prowess on that end.   

3.) Todd Mayo might becoming a star - Am I getting a little Jon Gruden here?  Yeah I am. Do I trust Mayo will stay the course? Not really, no, I think he is on his final chance with the program and university but then again, I thought that last year around this team. In the last five games, Mayo has been a double-digit scorer for this team with him playing really efficiently and not relying on his 3-point shot which is truly important to Mayo's development. He made nine free throws on Saturday against Seton Hall having 19 points in total meaning he is attacking the lane. Now, Mayo should be starting, but I like to think he is one of those Manu Ginobli type meaning he prefers to come off the bench. If it is not the latter, Mayo should be starting for the rest of the year without question. 

4.) Davante Gardner needs to be a rebounding machine - These last two reasons will be me banging a drum from a couple recaps I have had in the last couple of weeks. Gardner had five rebounds on Saturday against Seton Hall bringing his five game average to a sparkling 3.8 which would be good if he played point guard. But Gardner is a power forward meaning he needs to be around the six to eight rebounds per game. Marquette is not going to be beat some of the better teams in the Big East if Gardner is only pulling down only four rebounds a game. I honestly believe this is complete laziness from his end. The man can put his ass into anyone, and get a rebound or at the very least, get a foul out of the opposing team. It should be easy for Gardner to grab five rebounds, and it should not be too  much to ask for him to get close to 10. 

5.) Jamil Wilson cannot be a magician - The disappearing act from Wilson is something I have only seen from one player in recent memory, Wisconsin's Marcus Landry. In his senior year, Landry had the same sort of expectations that Wilson had when the season began. Wilson had the first half that I think we as Marquette fans expected all season then he disengaged from the offense in the second half leading to Wilson only having 16 points rather than a 20 or 25 point afternoon when he started the game off with 12 points in the first half. Additionally, Wilson had only his second double-double of his career which is stunning to think about given his size and stature. Jamil needs to be more than just a role player. Landry never got past that, and my biggest fear is Wilson will remain status quo.

This Marquette team still has a lot of work, but a win is a win. They now get a week off before heading out for a road trip to Butler and Georgetown in two games in three days. Both games are entirely important to Marquette's dimming tournament hopes. Let's hope Marquette is not okay with 'just winning' this team and staying the course because if they are, this team is doomed.

Charlie.