MU Declaws the Grizzlies

Jerel McNeal owned the first half and Wesley Matthews owned the second half as MU caged the Oakland Golden Grizzlies 90-69 tonight at the Bradley Center. McNeal (18) and Matthews (21) both delivered career highs. Dominic James completed the trifecta with 17 points as MU's freshmen again set the tone for the Golden Eagles.

McNeal poured in 14 first half points as MU built up a 44-32 advantage at the break, highlighted by a 22-15 advantage on the boards. MU stretched the lead to 48-32 early in the second stanza.

The lead did not last as Rutgers transfer Calvin Wooten exploded for Oakland, keying a frantic 17-1 run to tie the game at 49 with 13:45 to play. Steve Novak responded with a jumper to put MU up 51-49, and MU never trailed again.

Wesley Matthews sparked MU in the second half, pouring in threes at critical junctures as MU stretched the lead to 20 points at 80-60 later in the second half. MU coasted from there, winning its second game in three days at the Bradley Center. Matthews scored 15 of his 21 in the second half.

Marquette upped its record to 8-3 on the season. MU hosts Delaware State on Thursday at the Bradley Center.

Many thanks to the guys at the Ring Out Ahoya chat room for updates on the action tonight.


Here is the Yahoo boxscore.

Here is the GoMarquette recap.

Here is the AP recap.

Here is the Journal-Sentinel box score.

Here is Todd Rosiak's recap of the game.