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 | ||||||||||||
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