• Marquette heads East to take on UConn

    The 21-5 Marquette Golden Eagles head to Storrs,CT for Saturday's 11:00 am matchup with UConn (16-9, 6-7 BIG EAST) at the XL Center. The game will be on ESPN making this the Golden Eagles' 16th national televised game of the season, with Dave Pasch and Doris Burke calling the game. Buzz Williams' 12th ranked squad is currently tied with Notre Dame in 2nd place in the Big East. Unfortunately, UConn will still be without Hall of Fame Coach Jim Calhoun, still dealing with serious health issues.

    Here is the tale of the tape:

    Vitals
    MU
    UConn
    RPI #11 #20
    SOS #26 #1
    Record 21-5 16-9
    Big East 10-3 6-7
    Home 13-1 12-2
    Road 4-4 2-6
    vs Top 25 2-2 2-4
    vs RPI Top 50 3-4 5-5


    PPG FG% FT% 3P% RPG ORPG DRPG APG TPG SPG BPG FPG
    MU
    76.7 46.1 72.6 34.7 35.8 11.8 24 17.5 12.7 8.8 3.6 18.2
    Uconn 68.6 45.5 68.3 32.8 38.4 12.4 26 13.4 13.4 6.1 6.4 14.4

    If Davante Gardner is unable to play, MU needs to find a way to pick up some offensive boards. The numbers are close above, but since MU has gone small, the offensive boards have been lacking - also need to stay out of foul trouble!! Keep up the defensive pressure, expect the 3/4 press sooner than later.

    A look at the Huskies.....

    Player
    GP MPG PPG FG% FT% 3P% RPG APG TPG SPG BPG FPG
    J. Lamb 25 36.8 17.2 47.5 83.5 33.8 4.5 1.7 2.2 1.4 0.6 1.6
    S. Napier 25 35.6 13.0 39.4 74.1 34.1 3.9 5.7 2.8 1.6 0.2 2.3
    A. Drummond 25 27.7 10.0 53.5 33.8 0.0 7.5 0.5 1.8 0.8 2.5 2.2
    T. Olander 25 20.9 5.2 46.7 72.5 33.3 4.6 1.3 1.16 0.4 0.5 2.1
    A. Oriakhi 25 20.3 6.6 48.6 55.4 0.0 5.0 0.3 1.36 0.1 1.1 1.7
    R. Boatright 16 28.2 10.4 46.3 72.2 41.7 3.3 3.9 2.25 1.1 0.1 1.5
    R. Smith 24 15.4 3.5 39.2 73.5 14.3 3.2 0.1 0.9 0.1 0.4 1
    D. Daniels 24 14.5 3.7 36.1 80.0 23.9 2.5 0.5 0.9 0.4 0.6 1.2
    N. Giffey 22 12.7 2.8 43.2 77.3 44.4 1.5 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.1 1
    B. Allen 9 2.1 0.2 20.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.0 0.1 0.3
    E. Wolf 7 1.0 0.2 100.0 0.0 0.0 0.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.4
    K. Bailey 4 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 0


    Notes from MU:
    MU Positioning Itself For League Tournament

    With five games remaining in the regular season, Marquette remains in prime position to claim one of the valuable byes in the upcoming BIG EAST Conference Championship.


    Through games of Feb. 15, MU owns a share of second place with Notre Dame. The top four teams earn a double bye to the quarterfinals, while the top eight programs claim at least a spot in the second round.


    Marquette’s best BIG EAST finish came in its first season (2005-06) in the league when the squad (10-6) claimed fourth place. MU claimed fifth in 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10 and ninth in 2010-11.


    The Golden Eagles have claimed at least 10 victories in six of their seven years in the BIG EAST and MU and Pittsburgh are the only two teams to advance to at least the quarterfinals of the conference tourney every year since 2005-06. Only four schools (MU, Villanova, West Virginia and Pittsburgh) have earned a .500-or-better record in each of those seasons.

    Johnson-Odom, Crowder Among League’s Best
    With the conclusion of the 2011-12 regular season rapidly approaching, Marquette seniors Darius Johnson-Odom and Jae Crowder have firmly established each of their respective names in consideration for the league’s most valuable player award.


    Johnson-Odom, a Preseason All-BIG EAST First Team selection, is ranked second in scoring in all games (18.4 ppg.) and league-only contests (19.3 ppg.). He is also among the conference’s best in free throw percentage (12th, .772), 3-point field goal percentage (10th, .397) and 3-pointers per game (6th, 2.24). He has reached double figures in points in every game this year and owns five performances of 20-or-more points in BIG EAST play.


    Crowder is one of just four players in the league ranked among the top-15 performers in six different categories. Through games of Feb. 15, he ranks 10th in scoring (16.2 ppg.), 10th in rebounding (7.6 rpg.), 12th in field goal percentage (.500), second in steals (2.31 spg.), 14th in 3-pointers per game (1.77) and sixth in defensive rebounds per outing (5.77). He has reached double figures in all but on league outing and owns four double-doubles since Jan. 1.


    Golden Eagles Rally For Yet Another Victory
    The Golden Eagles have been big fans of the dramatic comeback in 2011-12, especially recently in BIG EAST Conference action.


    Louisville jumped ahead 18-2 six minutes into the first half on Jan. 16 before MU was able to pull away for a 74-63 win. Villanova had the Golden Eagles down 28-10 midway through the first half, but a second-half surge allowed the squad to escape with an improbable 82-78 victory. MU was down by as many as 11 points in the first half Jan. 31 against Seton Hall, but eventually took the lead late in the second half and held on for the 66-59 decision.


    In the Feb. 6 matchup with DePaul, Marquette found itself down 41-29 late in the first half before outscoring the Blue Demons by 25 points the rest of the game. The Golden Eagles trailed Cincinnati 16-4 at the 15:19 mark of the first half before turning things around and actually led by 12 points at halftime.


    Blue, Wilson Pick Up Offensive Production
    With the loss of sophomore center Davante Gardner to a knee injury four games ago, Marquette was forced to find another source for his 12.2 points and 6.6 rebounds per game in league play.


    While seniors Darius Johnson-Odom and Jae Crowder have remained consistent performers throughout that span, sophomores Vander Blue and Jamil Wilson have done more than just pick up the slack.


    Entering the Jan. 31 matchup with Seton Hall, Blue owned just one career double-figure scoring game (27 appearances) in BIG EAST play. He has now scored 10-or-more points in four-straight games and is averaging 14.5 points and 6.3 rebounds per contest during that span and shooting 53.8 percent from the field. Those numbers are all well above his season marks of 8.7 points and 4.4 boards per outing.


    Wilson, who has moved to the starting lineup in the absence of Gardner, is contributing 12.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per night while shooting 50.0 percent from the field since the matchup with the Pirates. That stretch includes his first career double-double (18 points, 10 rebounds at DePaul). Again, easily surpassing his campaign averages of 6.8 points and 3.8 rebounds per game.