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Marquette is Winning the Close Ones

Now that Marquette has won eight of their last nine games and are on the good side of the tournament bubble, they can really look back at the effort at the end of the last 3 games as what helped them get into the big dance.

79-76 (OT), 63-61 (OT), and 84-83 (OT). That’s what you’ll see when you look at MU’s schedule and results for its last three games. As you can see, the Golden Eagles have played in overtime three times in a row, one shy of the NCAA record. Even more astounding, they have won all of these games.

In the first game against Cincy, it was Lazar Hayward- who was having one of his worst games of the season- that hit a game-tying 3 pointer at the end of regulation to send the game to OT. He then proceeded to lead the team in OT to a big win against a tough team on the road.

A few days later, it was Jimmy Butler against St. Johns. The same man who hit a fade-away game winning jumper against UCONN on the road did the same thing in Queens, NY against the Red Storm.

And Saturday, it took a total team effort to put down a pesky Seton Hall team in beautiful Newark, NJ. All five of MU’s starters reached double figures, led by Lazar hayward who had 23. Darius Johnson Odom and David Cubillan also had strong efforts with 16 points each.  DJO would not be denied on his way to the hoop late in regulation.

Bottom line, MU has a lot of clutch players on their team, and that’s why they have won 8 of 9 and hopped off the bubble a little bit. They still have two important games against Notre Dame and Louisville coming up to finish the season plus the Big East Tournament. But, as it stands now, the Golden Eagles have played their way into the big dance.

For a year in which MU lost 3 of their top four players from the year before, and projected starting point guard Junior Cadougan to a major injury, they have really fought hard. Kudos to Lazar Hayward, Jimmy Butler, DJO, Maurice Acker, and David Cubillan.

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The Next Three Games Loom Large for Marquette

If the Golden Eagles have the misfortune of missing out on the big dance for the first time since 2005, they will most likely be looking back at this three game stretch as where the ship sank.
MU’s next 3 games are all against strong, but not elite competition. The three teams- South Florida, Pitt, and Cincinnati- are all pretty much in the same bout as the Golden Eagles. They all sit in the middle of the Big East standings are considered bubble teams for the tourney at this point (although Pitt may be in the best position of the four teams).
The first game, Saturday vs. USF, could be the most important of the three. The Bulls are hot of late, and could be considered as one of the big surprise teams in the NCAA this year. After going just 9-22 last year, USF has pulled it together this year and has garnered wins against the likes of #7 Georgetown and #23 Pittsburgh. They are a tough team and very much alive for a tournament selection; and a win at the Bradley Center Saturday would be big on their resume. Led by a strong front court of Augustus Gilchrist and Jarrid Famous, South Florida could create match-up problems for MU. The Golden Eagles will need another big performance from their back court to counter the Bulls’ paint presence.
On Thursday, Marquette travels to the Zoo to take on the perennially strong Pitt Panthers. After starting out the season very strong, Pitt hass cooled down -losing four of their last 7 games. Of the Panthers’ six losses this year, only 1 has come at home. The Zoo is considered one of the hardest venues to win in for opposing in the Big East, and will provide a major challenge for Marquette. If the Golden Eagles are able to win this game, it would certainly boost their chances come Selection Sunday.
The final of the three games is against the Cincinnati Bearcats. UC plays hard every night and are led by uber-talented Freshman Lance Stephenson. Stephenson and forward Yancy Gates will be matched up on Lazar Hayward and Jimmy Butler respectfully, creating one of the most intriguing 2 on 2 match-ups MU has seen this season. Hayward and Butler must win these individual battles if MU has any hope of countering the Bearcats rebounding advantage (Cincy comes in 4th in the Big East in team rebounding).
After these three games, the Golden Eagles travel to St. Johns and Seton Hall before closing out at home against Notre Dame and Louisville. All these are important, but this three game stretch against other bubble level teams will really separate MU from the pack; this could be a good or bad thing depending on how they do.

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Where Marquette Stands…

The end of January and beginning of February is an interesting time in college basketball. Other than the Superbowl, the NFL season is pretty much over and peoples’ interest is starting to shift over to the hardwood. It’s also the midway point through conference schedule and teams are really starting to show their true colors. Right now is a good time to sit back and gauge what you see in your favorite teams.

So what about Marquette? They’re in the middle of the pack in the Big East with a 13-8 (4-5) record. At first glance, you may look at this win/ loss ratio as NIT worthy. But this is the BIG EAST, by far  the best conference in college basketball. Of those 9 games played in conference, six of them have been against top 20 teams. Thats a pretty damn hard schedule. Its not as if all those games have been losses either; the Golden Eagles took down an elite Georgetown team on January 6th and recently went out to Hartford, CT and beat the Huskies. And the games MU has lost… A buzzer beater at West Virginia, two games to No. 2 Villanova by a total of 4 points, a close game (76-71) at the Carrier Dome to the fifth ranked Syracuse Orange, and MU’s worst performance of the season in Chicago in a another buzzer beater loss to lowly DePaul.

Next question, whats the road ahead look like for MU? Well it’s a lot easier than the one they’ve traveled thus far. Of the nine conference games left, they have only one against a ranked team (No. 17 Pitt). Thats not to say it’s the easiest schedule, they still have to face the Notre Dames, Louisvilles, and Cincinnatis of the world. But the rest of the games are definitely should-wins. If the Marquette takes care of business in the final month plus of the regular season and makes a splash in the always trilling Big East tourney, they will be looking at a top 25 ranking and a definite spot in the big dance. If this happens, they’ll be looking back to the time when they were 3-5 in conference, were slipping a little bit, and were saved by monster performances by their big three (Lazar Haywood, Jimmy Butler, and Darius Johnson-Odom) in a tough win vs UConn as the turning point of the season.

The lack of any legit big man has been a problem that Marquette seems to be forced to deal with every year, but when they get good performances out of their big three they can compete with anyone in the country. If Marquette plays their cards right they’ll be a tough out in the tournament, no matter who they play.

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