Warriors take on the Pukin' Shamrock Shakers

The Big East Champion Marquette Warriors renew hostilities tonight against the stereotypical (though apparently not offensive enough) Fightin' Irish of Notre Dame.  First things first -- Notre Dame sank to new lows with its uniforms last night as Jay Bilas so eloquently pointed out during the broadcast.

Of course in the wake of Fukushima, the Pacific Ocean is something akin to a giant nuclear waste storage facility -- so maybe the Irish are just ahead of the curve in wearing radioactive green uniforms.

On to tonight's game ... Marquette's offense is better than Notre Dames' offense.  Marquette's defense is better than Notre Dame's defense. 

Rob ran the numbers from the first meeting between these two teams (see the chart below). As you'll see, despite Marquette shooting lights out in the game, turnovers kept the Irish closer than they should have been (a turnover rate of 24.5% for MU in the 2H was disappointing). In addition, the Domers owned both sides of the glass. ND prevented Marquette from getting offensive rebounds and collected 52% of their own misses in the second half.  Late in last night's broadcast, Badger Andy spoke with Buzz who noted that the Irish were doing a great job on the offensive glass against the Scarlet Knights.  We say it comes down to turnovers and offensive rebounds once again.

BTW, it's great to see good coverage of MU rah-rah during March, and this piece by Luke Winn is a keeper.  Ring out Ahoya!

And in the words (perhaps someday of Pope Francis I), "Confirmo Jesuita basketball primo et principaliter. Anulus de Ahoya. Vade Bellatores."