Miserable Marquette Season Ends with a X

Marquette did not make an appearance on the bubble. Nobody talked about how the Golden Eagles 'needed one or two wins' to make the Big Dance. A team picked to win the Big East had become irrelevant in absolutely no time. Although with Villanova falling earlier in the door, the door was open a touch for Marquette to make a run. It did not happen as Xavier beat Marquette, 68-65, where they took control early on in the second half and Golden Eagles could not get their heads back above water.

This game really became a microcosm of the season. A game where Marquette plays competitively in spots, disappear at different occasions and a Buzz Williams decision that makes your head spin. Golden Eagles really played to their season's worth which is about lower than low. It is like praising an alcoholic for not having a drink in a week or so. Marquette did some nice things, but once again, they could not close out a basketball game

One of the more encouraging things about Marquette's season in October was the massive recruiting class coming in for 2014. Duane Wilson, Deonte Burton and JaJuan Johnson were all hyped up to be the next great players for Marquette. Wilson got hurt, Johnson never really made it off the bench and Burton finally got a chance to start on Thursday. He had a career-high 23 points in an aggressive performance where he showed a will to get to the lane and make shit happen. Marquette did not have enough guys this year that wanted to make shit happen. Burton might not have much of an outside shot yet, but he can entirely fill up the tin. The mind-boggling thing is he stayed on the bench for most of the final seven minutes of the game. Buzz Williams told Andrew Gruman and others, it was due to his defense and then you see this from Paint Touches.

Xavier scored on 11 of its 14 final possessions. Good thing Deonte wasn't in to make it worse.
— Paint Touches (@PaintTouches) March 14, 2014

The fact Williams used his lack of defense as an excuse is a fair one for why Burton did not start all year, but to keep him bench when he is playing the best game of his career is absolutely maddening and disappointing. There are times where you need to sacrifice defense for good offense. Marquette has enough players that can fill it up and if they have to play in the eighties, so be it. It is also a complete and utter joke given Davante Gardner cannot guard a statue, Todd Mayo's closes like a 21-year-old kid at the bar, Jake Thomas is a disaster (He did make a really smart play last night though) and basically, none of these guys really play concrete defense. I know Marquette's numbers show they are better than most, but we see mirages all the time. Burton needed to be out there, and the fact, Williams kept him on the bench is such a timid, feeble move. Change scares Williams, let's just all admit that about the coach. He cannot handle freshman being the leaders of this team especially when he kisses the collective asses of all the seniors.

Heavy criticism of Williams feels completely wrong honestly. Many critics would say 'Look at DePaul, they are praising just winning a Big East conference tournament game, and you have coach that got you three Sweet 16, how ungrateful.' It is not ungrateful, just concerned how Williams handled this roster and what the team will be like moving forward. A great coach like a Tom Izzo, Billy Donovan, Jim Calhoun, Roy Williams, tends to find a way to make things work with a roster and rarely do they get defeated like Marquette's head coach did all season with trying to figure out this roster.

Even though Todd Mayo is about as reckless as anyone in college basketball, but he stayed engaged throughout the game. I did not realize Mayo had 21 points on 8/13 shooting, but he tried his best to keep Marquette in the basketball game. Twice, the Golden Eagles trailed by six points and Mayo nailed a three-point jumper (Worth nothing, Mayo found his three-point shot again at the end of the year). In the last six games, Mayo is averaging 17.1 points and in the last three, he had 20 or more points off the bench. Could a generally troubled player become a leader next year? I have high hopes which might be naive, but I am optimist that Mayo will stay in check knowing he is the man of the 2014-2015 team.

Mayo and Burton give me hope that this could be a one bad year and things might head back to normal. The trio of the two and Luke Fischer midway through the season could be real special. Not to mention, Duane Wilson will get the keys and it could be real special. Even though Williams mishandled this season, I still hold out hope it was an aberration and things will be back to normalcy next season.

The best part of the game yesterday was Jamil Wilson missing two free throws as Marquette down three with under two minutes left. If you wanted a clip to describe Marquette's season and Wilson's career, that would be the perfect one.  Happy, it is over and would not mind making a little noise in the NIT.

Charlie.

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.  

Marquette Shows Its True Colors in Villanova Defeat

The faith in Marquette taking down Villanova on Sunday afternoon was the same faith that one might have in seeing Will Ferrell get an Academy Award... Very little. For the entire year, Marquette failed to step up when the lights shined the brightest and once again, it held true as Golden Eagles fell to eighth-ranked Villanova, 73-56 in a dominating performance. For what seems like the 10th time this year, Marquette could not grab a marquee win. Buzz Williams technical, Jamil Wilson's disappearance, free throw shooting and Derrick Wilson plagued this team on Sunday.

There has been much discussion about the Big East officials in the past couple of weeks probably too much, but Buzz apparently had enough yesterday. He received a technical after Jake Thomas appeared to get a timeout on the sideline yet the officials did not grant him one. Williams could not have picked a worst time for him to get teed up late in the first half. Villanova had an eight to 10 point lead for a majority of the first 20 minutes. Marquette started to gain some steam pulling the lead down to six before Williams drew a technical. Villanova would make the two free throws and Darrun Hillard hits a three to put Nova up eleven as they hit halftime.

Marquette did not get closer than six points for the rest of the game. While it is totally understandable to see Williams' frustration with the call, his technical changed the direction of the game. If he is a first or second year coach, we could excuse the outburst, but not Williams whose been there for awhile. Coaches are not perfect nor should anyone expect them to be, but there needs to be something to just pump the breaks. Marquette might have had the same outcome if Williams did not get the technical, but Golden Eagles needed a perfect game which getting technicals are not a part of it.  

Another thing hindering Marquette from playing perfect was Jamil Wilson pulling a disappearing act. Wilson has been great for almost the entire month of February minus the St. John's performance and then he completely crumbled in a game that should have benefited him. Villanova does not have a player that can play with Wilson on the perimeter with the same size yet he could not take advantage. Wilson's stat line looked like the fourth player off the bench with five points, only made shot on four attempts and only playing 21 minutes. The last part could have been his coach realizing Wilson did not have it on Sunday afternoon. It is hard to believe the senior 'leader' of this team failed to show up in the biggest game. 

While in the grand scheme of things this probably did not make a difference, but Marquette was below or near their average for the fourth straight game. Three of the four featured the Golden Eagles dipping well below their average of 70.8 percent including yesterday's game where Marquette went 64 percent from the field. This is sort of bizarre after the team went 54/61 in two straight games against Seton Hall and Xavier before falling apart on the line. This could likely be blamed on the usual inconsistency of this whole Marquette team throughout the year.  

Derrick Wilson had a great February, but his March looked like November from him. It felt like the game was too big for him which should not happen as he is a senior whose played in big games, but that's what it looked like with Wilson. He played tentative and forced some shots that were not there plus his defensive was subpar to say the least. With seniors you would like to see them close out strong and Wilson did not get off on the right foot of his last month of college basketball.  

My buddy Coach asked me 'What are Marquette's chances of the NCAA Tournament without a Big East Conf. Champ win?'  I said five percent. There are still chances for some craziness, but Marquette looks completely on the outside. Truthfully, the last thing this team deserves is an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament.

Charlie.  

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.

Jamil Wilson, O-Boards & Free Throws equal a Marquette Victory

Marquette had a week off before heading to New Jersey to play Seton Hall. Golden Eagles had been flip-flopping wins and losses more than a local politician. Somehow, Marquette found themselves in the middle of the Big East which is a current trainwreck, but they could develop some separation from some of the others. Marquette rebounded from 20 bad minutes of basketball to win 77-66 with Jamil Wilson's biggest effort of the season along with Golden Eagles cleaning up on the glass and the free throw line yet concerns are still there about this team.

Other than Jake Thomas, Wilson suffered the most criticism of any Marquette player this season. Reason being is most Marquette fans put him on a pedestal assuming he would make the 'senior leap' as we have seen with Golden Eagles players before. This did not happen with Wilson. He is one of the most athletic players in Buzz Williams' tenure, but at the same time, one of the most frustrating players to watch. Wilson stepped up in a major way on Tuesday night.

Wilson came out firing against the Pirates nailing four straight threes and another basket having 14 quick points. He is only a 32 percent 3-point shooter so it came with much surprise when Wilson made it rain out there like he had unlimited dollar bills. He finished the game with 25 points and 10 rebounds notching his second double-double of the season. Wilson seemed to be involved with the offense more so than other games of remembrance. For the first time this season, it felt like the offense actually ran through him. This could be a very encouraging sign moving forward with Marquette. In the last two games, Wilson is averaging 21 points and eight rebounds a game. Hopefully, this is not just another trick by the magician.

What does not get talked about much is how Marquette really is not a good free throw shooting team. For the second, they rank tied for 202nd by shooting 68 percent from the charity stripe. I do not think there have been many games where Marquette lost the game from the line, yet still, it is an elephant in the room for this squad. They did a great job Tuesday night making 30 of 34 free throws. Sometimes, the difference from a game being a 10 point advantage to a nail-biter finish is free throws. Further, Marquette going to the line 34 times is a great thing. They shot only 14 threes and got to the line 34 times; this should be the prototype for this team.

Marquette had their own issues with giving up offensive rebounds, but last night, they were the time giving it to the opposition. One of the big reasons the Golden Eagles won this game was their ability to clean up around the glass. Chris Otule, Davante Gardner and Wilson all pulled down three or more offensive rebounds providing another offensive opportunity for Marquette which they usually converted on with 14 second-chance points. Additionally, Seton Hall only had three offensive rebounds and only had 19 for the game. I hope the Golden Eagles big men and the whole team watch this tape seeing how well they can rebound game in, game out.

While it was great to see Marquette fight back and get a big win, there were still some noticeable concerns with the Golden Eagles.  Seton Hall shot 53 percent from the field, and at certain points of this game, Pirates were shooting around 60 percent. If it were not for the free throws and offensive rebounds, Marquette could have gotten wiped out. Additionally, Seton Hall made 10 threes including five of them from Brian Oliver, the second-best shooter in the Big East. Oliver found himself open more times than not. Golden Eagles need to find a way to be better perimeter defenders. I do not know if this starts with who plays at guard position or what, but it might be Marquette's biggest defect this season.

Marquette has now won two straight games. They win another game, it will be a winning streak. They have happened before. It will not be easy taking on Xavier. Golden Eagles will be tied for third in the Big East, and the conversation about the bubble can start again. But until then, Marquette is still on the outside looking in but another win continues to give everyone hope.

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.

Marquette's Big Apple Appearance is Spoiled Rotten

Marquette grasped for NCAA Tournament life after beating Providence on Thursday night. It seemed like the table could be set for a February run. Golden Eagles headed to Madison Square Garden in a place where they have yielded inconsistent results. Marquette fell to St. Johns, 74-59, meaning they have flip-flopped in the last 12 games with wins and losses. As Golden Eagles were down by 20 or more in this game, they officially hit rock bottom. Marquette's lackluster effort by seniors, D'Angelo Harrison taking over and the bizzaro world Buzz Williams is living in right now.

Marquette did not play well at all. There is not really one thing we could point to and say 'Hey! Well at least this happened!'  I mean this is a dumpster fire of epic proportions with the Golden Eagles getting dominated by a team whose lost seven of their nine Big East games. Sure, they could be better than their record, but at the same time, that is not an excuse for the effort shown by Marquette throughout the entire game. It felt like a team that had lost six straight games rather than one beating the hottest team in the Big East.

Jamil Wilson is probably one player where the finger points to although most of the Marquette team is at fault for this season as well as this game. Wilson only played 13 minutes, one of his lowest totals of the season, and this had nothing to do with foul trouble. I am hard on Buzz Williams, but I give him credit for sitting Wilson in the second half. He deserved it, and frequently, I do not expect him to respond well to it. I cannot believe I fell for the rouse that Wilson would be the next Marquette player to take a leap as a senior like many of the other players have before him. It is too bad Jamil could never put it together. He might be the greatest 'what if' player with Williams.

Although Wilson is not the only one at fault as Harrison, St. John's star, had a massive game against Marquette. I am not trying to rain on Harrison's parade, but he spent most of the time wide open. Harrison made six three pointers as well as shooting 43 percent from the field. This seems to be a trend of Marquette struggling against a team's number one player. Bryce Cotton is the only one in recent memory where the Golden Eagles found a way to stop him. I shudder to think what Doug McDermott might do when he comes to Milwaukee.

THERE IT IS, Buzz blamed this loss on playing on Thursday. Fun. #mubb
— Anonymous Eagle (@AnonymousEagle) February 1, 2014

I have no idea what Williams is saying here. Can he just admit they lost the game? I do not really like Jim Boeheim, but at least the guy will admit the team got their asses kicked. Jim Calhoun does the same. John Calipari just blames his players, but he does not find excuses. Williams putting a loss on playing two nights before is not something I would expect out of Williams. It is a horseshit response. I would kill for Williams to go on a complete rant that gets a million YouTube hits setting fire to everything and everyone. He loves his players, but I am starting to wonder if he cares too much about them without enough separation.

The season is officially lost. Basically, the only way Marquette gets in is if they win the Big East conference tournament. Other than that, Golden Eagles are probably heading to the NIT or heaven forbid, a CBI bid. Maybe they can put together a few wins, an upset here or there, but all in all, Marquette is just a hopeless wanderer in college basketball.

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. 

X Marks the Marquette Struggles

It is hard to say a game in early January is a must-win for a college basketball team, but for Marquette, it
seemed like this was the case. They yet to have a marquee win on the year, and Golden Eagles could have achieved it on Thursday night by getting a road win against Xavier. This did not happen with Musketeers getting their eighth straight win beating Marquette, 86-79 in a game where Marquette once again struggled in late game situations, continued rebounding issues and Jamil Wilson disappeared again putting Golden Eagles' back entirely up against the wall.

This feels like a broken record at this point, but Marquette showed great fight in a losing effort. They were down double-digits at the early stages of the second half, and Golden Eagles found ways to battle back with hitting 3-pointers as well as playing tough defense in stages. The game was tied with a little under five minutes left to play yet from there but Xavier took any dreams of stealing a win by going on an 8-0 run with two big threes from Semaj Christon. The most frustrating part of this is Christon only shoots 1.5 threes per game and he nails two big balls threes in the biggest moment of the game. He took the top dog spot late when it was needed for Xavier, if only Marquette had that sort of thing.

For the first time in awhile, a team annihilated Marquette on the glass. Xavier did a complete glass cleaning against Marquette by outrebounding them 39-20.  The fact Marquette only grabbed 20 defensive rebounds is absolutely incredible in the sense they still had a chance in this basketball game. It comes from Davante Gardner's inability to rebound the basketball. Despite being the biggest guy on the court usually (Xavier's Matt Stainbrook was a behemoth inside and I would love to see Gardner-Stainbrook-Joshua Smith in a steel cage), Gardner does not really seem to care about rebounding the basketball. In the last five games, Gardner is averaging 3.8 rebounds a game as a power forward. That is entirely unacceptable. There is no reason why he cannot throw his ass into somebody and pull down at least five boards a game, do not let his average fooled you.

Another big problem in Marquette's defeat was Jamil Wilson struggling to be a true threat  to score. He had his worst game of the year. Wilson only had five points only shot five times and fouled out with five minutes left in the game. Looking at Wilson's games this year, he is turning in a very inconsistent season without any defining moments. In some of the marquee games, Wilson seemed to shoot more even if he did not make many (Wisconsin game where he went 7/19) or he just did not become part of the game. He needs to go Keyshawn Johnson at some point and just demand the damn ball. There is nothing wrong with being selfish and taking control of the scoring. It will open up the middle for Gardner, and there is no reason to think Wilson cannot find seams in an opposing defense.

Marquette has seven losses. They are virtually nowhere near close to the NCAA Tournament therefore no real reason to talk about it. Golden Eagles probably need to win all of their games for the rest of the month winning at tough environments like Butler and Georgetown even if both teams are having rough years as well as beat the Big East leader Villanova at home. Additionally, a strong February with no bad losses is probably needed for Marquette to be in the conversation of the tournament come March. It is straight uphill from here and it does not seem like Marquette has enough to climb the mountain.

Charlie.