• Cincinnati buries #7 Marquette 72-61

    by
    IWB
    Published on 03-01-2012 08:01 AM
    2 Comments Comments
    Is there anything worse than watching that type of a game on DVR-delay?

    Yes, there was quite a delay with the post game story, but please, try to understand. I am the kind of guy that, when my teams lost when I was growing up, I wouldn't look at the newspaper and I wouldn't watch the news. Now I am much older and all grown up, so now when my teams lose, I have a much different approach. I still don't read the paper, I still don't watch the news, but now, I don't log on to my computer. My, how I have grown.

    Now that I am finally able to look at things again, here goes. "They needed a wake up call"..... "It's actually good to get that loss out of the way now, before the post season"...."Now they know what they need to work on"... blah blah blah.

    The Golden Eagles were flat last night, and Cincinnati could do no wrong. I said in the pre-game that it is tough to beat any team on senior night, and I stand by that. Cincinnati has been through a lot this season, and their seniors responded. Yancy Gates may have only tallied 6 points, but the senior was a workhorse on the boards last night, pulling down 13 of them. Some might say 'Crowder had 12', but Gates numbers are more impressive as he sat a good chunk of time in foul trouble, playing only 23 minutes compared to his 31+ average.

    Now add in senior guard Dion Dixon. 21 points, four steals and 6-7 from the free throw line. Their seniors went out on top, but they didn't do it alone. Jaquon Parker wasn't about to let his senior teammates down, the junior had a career night, pumping in 21 points (averages 8) and also recorded four steals.

    It's usually Marquette who protects the ball, it's usually Marquette who pressures the ball forcing turnovers, but last night. Last night the Bearcats only turned the ball over seven times, as opposed to the Golden Eagles 17. Its usually Marquette that draws the fouls and gets to the free throw line, but not last night. The Golden Eagles only drew 15 fouls and attempted only 12 free throws, last night it was Cincy who couldn't be stopped.

    Despite having trouble with Cincinnati's zone, MU did have some bright spots. No one told Jae Crowder and Darious Johnson Odom to let the Bearcats run wild. The senior All-American candidates combined for 35 points and 19 rebounds. Vander Blue was stellar on the boards once again, pulling down seven, five of which were on the defensive end. Jamil Wilson had a solid game with 9 points too, so the bright spots were there.

    If there was any gaping hole to point to last night, it was the bench. Buzz Williams has gone with a smaller rotation ever since Chris Otule and Davante Gardner went down, but last night he went with a six man rotation, with a handful of Todd Mayo's minutes coming down the stretch. Last night MU's bench played a total of 30 minutes, about 20 of which came in the final four minutes of the game when all was pretty much over. The Golden Eagle's bench combined for five rebounds and six points. If they are to make a run in the Big East Tournament or the NCAAs, they need more from the bench, they can't win with five players.

    So, on to the ESPN low-lights...



    Box Score...

    Cincinnati Bearcats
    Players MIN FG 3PT FT OREB REB AST STL BLK TO PF PTS
    Y. Gates 23 2-8 0-0 2-2 5 13 0 2 1 1 4 6
    S. Kilpatrick 36 4-12 1-7 0-1 1 2 4 2 0 1 0 9
    C. Wright 35 0-7 0-5 0-0 0 3 4 2 0 2 3 0
    D. Dixon 37 7-16 1-7 6-7 0 0 2 4 0 3 2 21
    J. Parker 35 10-18 2-4 6-8 2 7 2 0 0 0 3 28
    J. Davis III 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
    J. Jackson 13 3-3 0-0 0-0 2 4 0 1 7 0 2 6
    C. Mbodj 10 1-1 0-0 0-0 1 2 0 0 1 0 0 2
    G. Guyn 10 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 2 0 1 0 0 1 0
    TOTALS 200 27-66 4-24 14-18 11 33 12 13 9 7 15 72
    40.9% 16.7% 77.8%
    Marquette Golden Eagles
    Players MIN FGM-A 3PM-A FTM-A OREB REB AST STL BLK TO PF PTS
    J. Wilson 27 4-9 1-1 0-0 1 4 0 0 0 4 4 9
    J. Crowder 38 5-13 2-8 5-6 1 12 2 1 1 4 4 17
    D. Johnson Odom 36 6-14 4-8 2-2 2 7 3 0 0 3 2 18
    V. Blue 29 3-11 1-3 0-0 5 6 3 1 0 1 0 7
    J. Cadougan 35 1-8 0-2 2-2 3 4 4 0 0 3 2 4
    T. Mayo 23 2-5 1-3 1-2 0 3 1 0 0 2 2 6
    J. Anderson 3 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0
    J. Jones 4 0-1 0-1 0-0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
    D. Wilson 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
    TOTALS 200 21-62 9-26 10-12 13 38 14 2 1 17 15 61
    33.9% 34.6% 83.3%
    Technicals: None
    Officials: Wally Rutecki, Ed Corbett, Gary Prager
    Attendance: 11,316
    .
    Comments 2 Comments
    1. TulsaWarrior's Avatar
      TulsaWarrior - 03-01-2012, 09:35 AM
      The bench is clearly the key in the Big East Tournament and in the NCAA post season. If Devante is healthy that will be huge giving Jae and Jamil a breather. The other key is Mayo. He's doing fine on defense but the offense has to come back. With DW you know what you'll get. JJ and Anderson?

      Recently I was looking at a game by game recap of the Marquette 1977 season. Not the best team in Marquette history but an NCAA Championship team. Looking at the 11-12 Marquette season game by game it's clear this is an outstanding season. My question is -- is there enough gas left in the tank?
    1. wiscwarrior's Avatar
      wiscwarrior - 03-01-2012, 09:39 AM
      I actually started recording away games and waiting for the results before deciding whether to watch it... much easier on the heart of an old man. Plus I actually see more of what's going on because I'm more relaxed.