Happy New Year, MU Undefeated in Big East -- Down goes Huggins

Marquette started the Big East season off well with a gritty 79-74 win over WVU in the 10am New Year's Day Hangover Bowl, sponsored by Bob Huggins' Miracle Tonic.

The least-showered Bradley Center crowd in history was on their feet as early as I can remember, shaking off NYE residue at the 17:27 mark when Jae Crowder got his first bucket giving the Warriors a 9-0 lead.  The crowd enjoyed an early 11 point lead, only to have WVU claw back into the lead in the 2nd half.  MU executed well down the stretch, coming from behind, scoring the final 6 points to win by 5.

Bloody-Mary drinking fans watched as Jae Crowder went a crazy 12 for 14, 29 points, 8 rebs, 5 assists and 4 steals.

DJO also put up great numbers with 21 points .. and not to be missed was Jimmy Butler, who was silent offensively for the first 25 minutes, but ended up with 10 and 7, 6 assists, 2 blocks, 2 steals.

MU's rotation was a tight 8 players, with Blue, Junior, and Fulce chipping in 9 points off the bench.

The Warriors had no answer for WVU's Darryl Bryant who had a career best 25, and were often frustrated by Huggins' 2-3 zone, of which Buzz admitted he didn't expect.

Also of note, this is the first Warrior victory in a conference game reffed by Jim Burr since 1942.

Marquette travels to Rutgers on January 5th.

Box Score
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Rosiak

Happy New Year!