UPDATED
Marquette beat the Duke Blue Devils tonight in Kansas City to earn the 2006 CBE Classic Championship. With the 73-62 victory Marquette moved to 6-0 on the young season, while Duke fell to 4-1.
Dominic James led MU's relentless attack tonight, tallying 25 points and seven assists. James dominiated the second half, keying MU's decisive run by scoring 11 of the team's 12 points midway through the final stanza.
Jerel McNeal was stellar as well with 17 points to go along with five steals. Duke simply had no answer for the aggressiveness and quickness of Marquette's backcourt, as Paulus and company were completely overmatched on both ends of the floor.
On the baseline, Ousmane Barro continued his effective play with eight points and six rebounds. Barro's improvement from last season is apparent -- the 6'10" junior consistently finished strong in traffic and remains active defensively. In addition, Dan Fitzgerald's inspired play was critical tonight. After drawing two quick fouls in the first half, the 6'9" junior proved to be a tough match for the Blue Devils as he tallied eight points and five rebounds (including three ORBs) -- numbers that belie his effectiveness.
Marquette's defensive scheme held the Blue Devils to just 37% shooting, and rendered Scheyer, Henderson and Paulus ineffective for most of the evening.
Offensively, MU was able to drive to the basket effectively throughout the contest. The Golden Eagles once again moved the ball crisply on offense while wreaking havoc defensively -- a trend that Marquette fans would like to see continue.
Congrats to Tom Crean's crew!
Rosiak puts James in the spotlight in this article about the win.
Here is the AP article from ESPN.com -- their lead story this morning.
Box Score.
Here is the GoMarquette.com story on MU's title.
Paul Day at the Marquette Tribune does a nice job on the big win as well.
This is the year of the golden eagle. With DJ, Wesley and McNeal theres no stopping us
ReplyDeleteThank you Marquette for beating Duke!
ReplyDeleteMust be a thrill for Tommy Crean to beat both Bobby Knight and Coach K in two days....Keep up the good work boys, stay undefeated for Dec. 9th.
ReplyDeleteGreat game MU! As a Richmond Indiana resident and follower of Dominic for years I have become a huge Golden Eagle fan - not only of the current players but the fine tradition of the program. Duke and Coach K had always been my fav until Dominic committed to MU.
ReplyDeleteWow. I could not be more pleased with last nights victory. Well worth staying up to the wee hours of the night.
ReplyDeleteFor the first time EVER, I will be hoping Duke has a good year.
ReplyDeleteI was suprised that Dukie V actually showed us some love from the very start of the game...
ReplyDeleteESPN Video:
ReplyDeletehttp://broadband.espn.go.com/ivp/splash?id=2671777
INCREDIBLE!!! This team has what it takes to go deep, if not take it all. TC beat 2 Hall of Fame coaches in 48 hours.
ReplyDeleteThank you TC, thank you to all the players for the GLORY & PRIDE you bring to the Marquette family. The game was so thrilling I couldn't sleep last night...what a wonderful problem to have.
Way to go Marquette! Its great to see how much we have improved from our first two games, struggling to beat Idaho St and Hillsdale. Now we've destroyed Texas Tech and took down Duke to win the CBE Classic
ReplyDeleteHard to believe this is the same team that went to OT with Idaho State at home.
ReplyDeleteThe great thing about this team is there's still plenty of room for improvement: 3-point shooting, free-throws, and pivot scoring. If they improve in these three areas with their already outstanding guard play, team defense, and intensity...watch out come tourney time!
ReplyDeleteIf we would have made our free throws, we would have beat DUKE by 20...
ReplyDeleteThank you Marquette for beating Duke! The moment is PRICELESS when the smug cloud surrounding Coach K dissolves after each defeat :-)
ReplyDeleteHas anyone seen commentary from coach K on the game?
ReplyDeleteI've only heard and seen TC's.
Marquette is a shadow of what they can be later in the season. Wait until Lazar gets more into the mix.
ReplyDeleteFolks, we're in for a special year. Buckle up, and enjoy the ride!
Go Marquette!