MU snapped UW-Madison’s 28-game home winning streak in an 81-76 victory in front of a national ESPN-2 audience Saturday night. Behind Dominic James’ 20 points/6 assist performance and Dwight Burke’s 12 points/9 rebounds, MU pulled away for impressive road win, and now owns basketball bragging rights for the state of Wisconsin
MU looked to take control of the game early, running off to a 16-9 lead after scoring on three straight possessions. That dominance didn’t last long as UW quickly settled down and the two teams played the tight game most expected.
MU finally began to pull away when Dominic James broke a 64-all tie with just over five minutes to play, which started a 5-0 run. Hayward, James, Matthews, and Burke were solid enough at the free throw line to secure the win.
By the numbers, James has now put together back-to-back games that show why he’s a possible early-entry player in this year’s NBA draft. However, when the level of competition is taken into account, his performance against the Badger is easily his most impressive game since last year’s win over Duke.
The emergence of Dwight Burke as a legitimate offensive threat is a positive development for MU. Burke managed to find the holes in Wisconsin’s front line defense and make several nifty dunks on the slower, taller Wisconsin interior defense. He also managed to hit two clutch free throws with 1:27 to go and MU holding onto a 4 point lead, spoiling Bo Ryan’s strategy of intentionally fouling him off the ball on an inbounds play in order to put him on the line.
With Wisconsin’s loss, Notre Dame now has the 3rd longest home winning streak in the nation. MU looks forward to snapping that one next February 9th in South Bend.
AP Report on the game
J/S Online Coverage
GoMarquette.com game review
Saturday, December 08, 2007
MU makes roadkill of Badgers, 81-76
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5 comments:
Nice finish to a tough game. As I live and breath I never thought Burke had it in him but he was CLUTCH. Nice rebounding effort, clutch free throws and not that many silly fouls. He's my vote for game MVP (no slight to James) if only because it was so long in coming- and what an opportune time. GO WARRIORS !!!!!!
Notre Dame set its school record for consecutive home wins tonight. Since Marquette beat Wisconsin, the Irish move up to the #3 current home winning streak.
Thanks for the help!
That's okay, blackandgreen, we'll take care of you guys come February. Just don't slip before then, thank-you-very-much.
One of the most interesting questions arising from Badgerfest 2007 is what would have happened if Brian Butch had not lost his senses and enrolled at Marquette.
If what we saw Saturday was indicative of Butch's ability to support a team, had Marquette been able to sign him, they would be battling for a #1 ranking nationally and probably be on everyone's radar for a potential national championship.
Butch was the dimension Marquette has not had since Robert Jackson was graduated in 2003. We have great guards and reasonably good shooting, but one can only wonder what would have happened if we had the big guy from Appleton in the middle.
I doubt if Butch is smart enough to have lasted at MU for 4 years...
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