Savannah State Quick Hits

Hope that everyone had a Merry Christmas and is getting ready for a joyous and prosperous New Year. Only one more cupcake for this year, and then it's time for Marquette to get a healthy diet of serious competition. Savannah State is next on the schedule, Saturday, 12/29 at 1:00 CT. For those that aren't local, the game can be seen on Time Warner, ESPN Full Court, or ESPN360.

Links

GoMarquette.com's Preview, with an overview of the hot shooting percentages and tough defense being played this month.

GoMarquette.com's Game Notes


Here are the Top Five Numbers to Know for Savannah State
As always, information comes from Pomeroy's Scouting Report and Game Plan


Five - Marquette's Pomeroy Rating. Yes, our beloved Marquette is rated as one of the top five teams in the nation according to Pomeroy.

• Schools ahead of MU in order? (Kansas, Duke, West Virginia, Wisconsin)
• This is despite a Strength of Schedule of 82
• Marquette has the #4 Adjusted Offense and the #14 Adjusted Defense

Nineteen - Savannah State's national rating at forcing turnovers.

• This is the one thing that Savannah State does well, which is forcing 27% of all possessions into turnovers
  
• Marquette only turns the ball over on 19% of possessions (National rating of 47), so watch this matchup
  

338 - Savannah State's national rating at protecting the ball

• Unfortunately for Savannah State, they are even worse at protecting the ball. They turn the ball over on almost 30% of all possessions
• Considering the aggressive defense of Marquette, we're going to call turnovers the matchup of the game

41.9 - Savannah State's effective Field Goal % (eFG%)

• As a reminder, eFG% is normal field goal percentage adjusted for the extra value of a three point shot (shooting 4/12 from three is the same points as 6/12 from two)
• This eFG% is good enough for Savannah State to have a national rating of 328. That's almost as bad as their rating for committing turnovers. Almost.
  
• In contrast, Marquette averages eFG% of 56.7% (national rating of 17)
• Savannah State has a terrible time scoring points

282 - Savannah State's RPI rating - which is probably why the computer projection gives us 100% chance of victory


In summary, Savannah State is aggressive at forcing turnovers, but terrible at protecting the ball. Their team is better at defense than they are at offense, where Savannah State is simply atrocious. Watch to see how well we are able to shut down the Savannah State offense.

Take heart, MU fans... the Big East starts up in less than a week!