MU cruises to a 95-62 win over EMU

The big question before today's matchup with Eastern Michigan was which Marquette team would show up. Would it be the offensively challenged team that barely survived matchups against Hillsdale and Idaho State? Or would it be the team that turned on the offensive jets and showed Detroit no Mercy?

For about five minutes on Saturday, it sure seemed like it would be the former. Eastern Michigan ran off to a 6-0 lead, while Marquette missed its first four shots from the floor. Jerel McNeal finally got MU in the game, and MU was off the the races.

Despite only playing offense for 35 minutes, MU managed to put up 95 points, and cruised to a 95-62 victory.

Dominic James led five Marquette players in double figures, with 17 points--16 in the 2nd half. He also led the team with 6 assists. Jerel McNeal and Lazar Hayward had 8 boards apiece, and Trend Blackledge pulled down 7.

Devon Dumes of EMU led the Eagles with 16 points. Nobody else cracked double figures.

The bench was the story of the game for MU. Trend, Fitz, David Cubillan, Dwight Burke and Lazar Hayward put up an amazing 46 points. Before the game, MU Coach Tom Crean commented that he wanted to see contribution for a rotation that went 10 deep. The team responded.

Two concerns--first, obviously, was the slow start, wich MU eventually overame easily. Second is the poor rebounding performance, with MU trailing EMU 18-13 at the half.

Next up for MU: Texas Tech coached by HOF coach Bob Knight. MU was on the short end of a double overtime matchup the last time MU faced Knight, falling to the Indiana Hoosiers in a 19831985 NIT game in Bloomington.

Tom Crean made the following points in the post-game radio interview:
 Happy the team played solid 30 minutes—not the first five or the last five minutes. Team scored 95 points in about 30 minutes.
 Couple of times we traded baskets, but held them to 33% overall, 38% from the three.
 Considering how early they were in the bonus, holding EMU to 20 FTs attempted not too bad.
 We were outrebounded by 8 in 2nd half—Crean not happy. He was emphatic on where we stood—shouldn’t have been down five. Not rebounding offensively the way the team should.
 Hayward has a feel around the rim. Getting his legs. Needs defense, ball handling to get more minutes. Proud of how he’s competing—getting better.
 Burke solid—needs to be in the rotation but has to earn it.
 Air Force incredible how well they played.
 Duke is Duke—athletes, skill, talent energy.
 TT quickest team we’ll face all year—five guys who can play the wings
 We might see 800 to 900 screens against TT.
 Blocks & Steals good performance. 38 deflection by halftime, but gambled too much today. Not containing the dribble and ball-side penetration.
 Need to get a lot better at transition defense and communication in full court.
 Excellent job defending EMU’s best player.
 Crean’s first ever college game was EMU/CMU.
 Team will go to reception to see Coach Wooden, Larry Brown, Dean Smith, Oscar Robertson, etc.
 Excited about this—guys will never forget. Then have a chance to play against excellent basketball

Here is the GoMarquette.com recap.

Here is the AP recap of the win.

MUScoop has a group of terrific photos from MU's romp at the Bradley Center.

Todd Rosiak reports here.

And here is the UPI recap.