MU Crushes the Crusaders

Faced with a 10-1 deficit at the hands of the visiting Valparaiso Crusaders, MU responded with a 41-19 run to close out the first half and never looked back enroute to an impressive 69-54 win.

Ryan Amoroso and Jerel McNeal led MU's balanced attack in the first half with eight points each -- while Wesley Matthews stepped up in the backcourt to control the game when Dominic James sat with two fouls. Matthews was impressive running the offense for MU, while McNeal earned his nickname -- McSteal -- a few times including one that led to a Matthews flush. James played just eight minutes in the first half.

MU was never threatened in the second half where despite abyssmal shooting, the good guys clamped down on Valpo and slugged it out for the win. MU led by as much as 16 in the second half, following the first of two Joe Chapman three's late in the game.

Jerel McNeal and Wesley Matthews starred for MU tonight. Their swarming perimeter defense helped to neutralize Valpo's productive bigmen, and led to countless deflections and a host of steals. McNeal and Dominic James led MU in scoring with 12. MU's attack was incredibly balanced tonight -- Novak with 8, Ammo with 8, Fitzgerald with 8.

Nice job by MU tonight, particularly in the second half when the team went into a four minute drought -- yet didn't allow Valpo to score during that same stretch.

On to Madison on Saturday.

Here is the CNN boxscore.

Here's the AP's brief take on the game.

Here is the GoMarquette recap of the game, including a box score and running tally.

Here's the box score from the good folks at Rivals.com.

Here's Rosiak's recap of the game from the MJS.