Marquette jumped out to a 30-10 lead in front of an empty Prudential Center, and cruised to an easy 89-64 win.
Lazar Hayward notched another double-double with 23 points, 11 rebounds. Matthews and McNeal chipped in 14 each.
Marquette crushed the Pirates on the boards, with a whopping 43 to 22 advantage.
The Pirates didn't put up much of a fight, except to fight. The coach got Tee'd up early, Nutter, their Sr. captain gave a blatant elbow to James' jaw and was ejected, and Mike Davis decided to say some choice words to Ooze, evoking a double technical. (You can get a technical for Sengalese cuss words?)
Marquette heads back home to play Pittsburgh on Friday at the Bradley Center.
Video clips from TallTitan:
AP Wrap / Box / Play by Play
Rosiak: Nutter Ejection
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Dozens Watch as MU Crushes Pirates
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19 comments:
Senegelese isn't a language. Try french, or one of several tribal languages. Just a heads up.
Yeah, but "Sengalese" is a funnier word.
Biggest thing for the team tonight was to see them get out of the early slump and continue to attack until the shots fell.
While Lazar remains my favorite player and MVP this year the biggest improvement tonight was the play of Jerel McNeal who finally let the game come to him instead of running around like a chicken with his head cut off. He shot 6-12 tonight with a couple of threes and it is huge to get him in rythm over the final seven games.
Looking towards the future I still think this team has sweet 16 capabilities or at least second round potential though it all falls on the ability of DJ to pass to the big men like Ooz tonight on the base line. Those dumps make the zone collapse and respect our inside game more and open up the outside shot for our shooters.
Also I hope this game is indicative of Jerel's play to come. Although he is a fan favorite his lack of consistant shooting and sloppy play are major proponents of the team's recent slump.
While we still have a long way to go this season I am excited to see this team next year with Mbakwe and Outle along with Lazar. Down lown presence in paint? NO WAY!
Also am i the only one who thinks Dan Fitzgerald is a waste of space? Try playing Mo Acker more.
I'm not gonna nit pick with a win like tonight. The energy was there from the start which was a stark contrast to when we played S.Hall at home.
Great game by the Finisher. He's the bomb. Trend chipping in again with solid contributions.
I'm in the minority I think, but the one facet of McNeal's game that I think has improved is his outside shooting this year. He has a better touch and more arc on the ball. But...like you said. Chicken minus head too many times. Nice game for him tonight. Bring on Pitt.
I think rebounding and good defense is the key. The statistics guru should see if our first shot was falling any more than any other game. My bet it wasn't. But the fact we were crashing the boards getting 2nd and 3rd shots was all the difference in the world. When we are "1 and done" as Homer says, we usually end up with the lose. In regards to Fitz. They were driving past him on will. He picked up four fouls. It seems that with a team loaded with slashers like us our coaches would of helped teach him to move his feet quicker. Anyway, it was a great night. Let's keep crashing those boards and playing tight defense against Pitt.
Trend I think realizes he is an important element on the team. He intimidated a number of shots. I don't think he will have another pass go through his hands to win the game. Barro was great on the boards and being active on offense. What really impressed me was the last five minutes with the bench in the game. The ESPN announcers commented that Marquette's style, intensity, etc. does not change when the bench is in. Burke looked very mobile and agile. He also had a nice putback. Hazel looked athletic. I know it was only cleanup for a couple minutes, but I have faith in our bigs. Against a bigger lineup like Louisville or Notre Dame or UCONN, I don't see why we can't let Lazar play 3 and have a combination of the other big four play the 4 and 5 spot and bang with their bigs to keep us from being dominated on the boards.
The Seton Hall fans were not out in big numbers. Maybe it was the weather. It makes you appreciate the Marquette fan turnout at the Bradley Center.
Anyone else notice the rhythm the offense got into when not in the sets? There was a minute or two where we got shots up right away in transition. It included a few drive and kicks, some nice finishes, and even a jumper by Matthews. If I recall correctly, it also led to a few second-chance points because the defense wasn't set. The offense just seems to stall when they set up in their sets. It was great to see them get some shots up in the first 10 seconds of the shot clock.
What a painfully slow second half.
So was this a spectacular game for MU or a pitiful performance by Seton Hall? Probably more of the latter. MU defended pretty well and was strong on the boards. Seton Hall had no interior threat, looked lethargic and uniterested, and basically laid an egg but props to MU for the road win. They shot under 35% in the first half and still led by 18 enough said. As to the individual performances: Lazar once again was outstanding. He is by far our best player, has been consistent all year, and will probably play on the next level once he's able to create for himself and others on the perimiter. He lacks a little quickness but makes up for it with his overall game. Ooze played pretty well and when he rebounds and stays in the game the team is much better off. Now on to McNeal: The guy has been a complete diaster this year until this game. Missed layups/shots, TO's,fouling, and mediocre defense have been his calling card. I was very happy to see him get on track but worried at the same time. All of his pts were totally meaningless as the game was out of reach early in the first half. Now it is possible his 2nd half effort will bode well for the future, I'm hoping that it does, but there is no way to gage if this means he's going to wake the F up and play like this every night. My overall take is that this was a nice win against a bad team, a team that has a total of 1 good win, and we have a very slim chance of advancing deep into the NCAA tourney. We need a good draw against a team preferably that is perimiter oriented.
Can someone tell me where SH ranked last year in BE attendance?
Thanks.
This Nutter needs to be taken down by the conference. Two games, 2 shots on James. Glad we beat them to a pulp.
Jack 82
Jes, let's give MU some credit. While I'm not nearly as negative at Jerel, it was a great bounceback game.
Seton Hall - averaged 6,600+ fans last year. Third worst in the league.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_East_Conference#Basketball
Seton Hall holds umpteen records for single game college basketball attendance in the state of New Jersey.
I hold the coach and the University responsible for Nutter's thuggery. I think he should have played his last game. Those types of incidents could even result in a fatality.
This is an example where I think Crean is way too complacent ie. "just move on".
DJ toughed it out. Glad he wasn't hurt. Crean shouldn't be the only one voicing his concern about Nutter. Where are the other Big East coaches? Where is the Big East sports administrators? Where is Bobby Gonzales? I am sure the Big East administrators know about the incident. Does Crean have to go on parade about it? No, he has other things to worry about like beating Pittsburgh. Nutter was ejected.
I'm surprised James wasn't taken off on a gurney.
Excited over a Seton Hall win? Who is next, North Division High School? C'mon folks, it is hard to get excited about a win against Seton Hall.
I guess after a couple of tough losses, it is good to have something to feel good about. But the caliber of competition was lacking and team probably could have beaten Seton with our second string.
Don't mean to be overly down, but we need a BIG win quickly.
Even in a gurney DJ could take apart Pit. We'll be ready for you hackmasters.
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