Marquette - Murray State, all business

Louisville, KY - There are 32 teams left in the NCAA tournament, and most of them are really enjoying their moment under the bright lights, but not the Marquette Golden Eagles, they look at it a little bit differently. The Golden Eagles feel that they are here to do a job. Senior Jae Crowder explained, "You really don't want to have too much fun because we all know this is a business trip. We look at it as a business trip. We really want to make a run for it, and try not to have too much fun other than winning."

But it's not like the Golden Eagles aren't having any fun while they prepare for Murray State, Darius Johnson Odom was out on the town Thursday night, "I went to the Waffle House last night. I'm from North Carolina. There aren't too may Waffle Houses in Wisconsin, actually, there are none at all. I enjoyed that. If you have been keeping up on my Twitter, I enjoyed the Waffle House last night."

As it gets back to business, Marquette Coach Buzz Williams feels as if Marquette is playing a road game, with the Racers playing in their home state. "I don't know that we have played -- Syracuse, obviously holds more people than this, but I don't know that we've played on the road, other than here when we played Louisville, has there been more fans than there will be tomorrow rooting for those guys. So, it's a road game."

Williams isn't that far off. With the Kentucky Wildcats playing in town, the crowd was about 80% Kentucky fans on Thursday, and playing after the Marquette game, Wildcat fans are certain to cheer for their in-state neighbors, and Murray State's Jewuan Long agreed with Williams' assessment. "He's probably right about that. It will be like a home game for us. We do have a lot of people coming to the game. A lot of blue and gold will be in the building. And even the UK fans, they've been giving us support as well."

The home court atmosphere could actually play to the Golden Eagles advantage, and Marquette floor general Junior Cadougan likes that angle. "We feed off of that. We kind of like the everyone is against us feeling, we feed off of that. It doesn't bother us, it motivates us."

The Racers are a lot like Marquette, with undersized athletic post players, strong guard play and an uptempo style, and with only two days to prepare for the opponent, and Darius Johnson Odom feels that could play in to the Golden Eagles favor. "I think it makes it easier for us. But at the same time, we still have to do the things we have been doing. We can't change just because we're playing a similar team. If we stick to playing our game, I think we have a pretty good chance."

While the teams are similar, and Marquette wants to keep things similar without making changes, Murray State Head Coach Steve Prohm may look at it a bit differently. "We have to do a great job getting back in transition, slow them down and force them to play a half-court game."

Playing a half court game is not something Marquette will try to do, as they want to get out and run in transition, as that is what defines their team. They are one of the most well conditioned teams in the country, and have a toughness that is not often matched, but Coach Prohm feels the Racers will need to get after it. "We've got to be great in transition. We've got to be great on the defensive glass. We've got to match their energy level, match their toughness. We've got to make tough plays."

In all likelihood, this game will be up and down court, a track meet of sorts, and Buzz Williams feels that is how it will play out, and he explained it in typical Buzz fashion. "Fast beats big when fast is fast. I learned that when I was a little boy, and I believe that, and I coach that. I recruit that. I teach that. Fast beats big when fast is fast." With both teams being fast as opposed to big, this one should be fun to watch.

Here is the tale of the tape....