Milwaukee - For starters, Marquette Head Coach Buzz Williams' turtleneck tribute to Rick Majerus was outstanding. It almost looked like a small version of Rick out there. "I wanted to be respectful. I wasn't able to attend the funeral, I went over this morning to meet with his sisters and some of the people that were there. I just wanted to have it be as a tribute, our kids are wearing the patch and what he has meant to basketball in general and what he has meant to the state and his service to this institution, it was the least I could do. And, because we won, I will wear it next Saturday too." I don't believe Buzz's wife Corey was as thrilled with that plan as I was.
On to the game... Vander Blue and Junior Cadougan led Marquette to a 60-50 win over Wisconsin at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. Cadougan ended with 18 points, Blue with 17, but it was Marquette's pressure defense that led the Golden Eagles to victory.
There were several keys on the defensive side....
The pressure defense was applied by everyone, not just on the perimeter and that was evident, as no Badgers scored in double digits. Prior to the contest Wisconsin had four players averaging more than 10 points per game including Jared Berggren (14.9), Ben Brust (13.7), Ryan Evans (10.4) and Sam Dekker (10.4). On Saturday the group combined for a total of 32 points, that's 17.4 below their average. It started with the back court pressure applied by Blue, Cadougan and Derrick Wilson, and carried to the wings where Trent Lockett, Jamil Wilson and Juan Anderson gave Ryan Anderson and Sam Dekker problems and on down to the post where Davante Gardner and Chris Otule held Berggren to 9 points in 31 minutes.
All in all it was the best I have seen a Marquette defense play in some time. It was no secret that players like Blue and Wilson were excellent defenders, but the performances by Juan Anderson and Davante Gardner were something that were not expected. Gardner tallied 8 rebounds on the day, 7 on the defensive end. Anderson's D on Dekker was outstanding.
From the crowd's perspective, the three most impressive plays on the defensive end were...
3) Davante Gardner registered three blocked shots on the day, but the one that stood out occurred when Wisconsin was mounting a comeback in the second half. Jarred Berggren went up for the jam and was stuffed by Garnder, who had the students yelling "#Ibechillindoe".
2) Juan Anderson's block of a Sam Dekker shot. Playing with 4 fouls, Dekker drove at Anderson to the hoop and the sophomore from Oakland went straight up and rejected the attempt.
2) Juan Anderson's block of a Sam Dekker shot. Playing with 4 fouls, Dekker drove at Anderson to the hoop and the sophomore from Oakland went straight up and rejected the attempt.
1) Again with Davante Gardner - Two weeks ago Buzz Williams described Gardner as a 'fat point guard', and Gardner backed it up. Towards the end of the first half, Gardner stole the ball at the top of the key and took it coast to coast for the lay in. Many in the crowd were screaming for a foul call, the rest were just in shock at what they had just seen. Not every day you see a 290 pounder go coast to coast.
On the offensive end there was no question that Cadougan and Blue led the way. In the first half it was Junior Vander Blue. The Madison native went 6-8 from the field, 2-2 from the three point line and 1-2 from the charity stripe. His play, intensity and overall emotion really set the overall tone for the first half.
In the second half it was the Junior Cadougan show. The senior from Toronto stopped major runs by the Badgers on a number of occasions. It seemed as if every time Wisconsin closed the gap to three, Cadougan answered with a basket. In one stretch Cadougan scored 9 of MU's 11 points. He scored 14 of his 18 in the second half, 12 of those in the last 10 minutes. There was no questioning that Cadougan carried the team on his shoulders in that second half.
Davante Gardner can't be overlooked on the offensive end as well. Despite only scoring 10 points on the game, the six he had in the first half were extremely hard fought and necessary for MU's offense to get the Badger D to open the lane as much as they could.
From the crowd's perspective, the three most impressive plays on the offensive end were...
3) In the first half on two separate occasions where the shot clock was winding down, and Vander Blue hot a three pointer with the ball falling through the net as the buzzer sounded. Not only were these great plays, but they showed fans that Vander Blue's shot has indeed improved, and that he could add some outside shooting that the Golden Eagles need.
2) Mixed in Cadougan's 14 second half points were three 'And-1' plays. Each one of the plays showed the fearlessness that Cadougan plays with, as well as his ability to lead the team.
2) Mixed in Cadougan's 14 second half points were three 'And-1' plays. Each one of the plays showed the fearlessness that Cadougan plays with, as well as his ability to lead the team.
1) Vander Blue's full court inbound football pass to Junior Cadougan. A play that also worked against Wisconsin a year ago, this really caught the Badgers off guard. With the entire badger defense pressuring in the back court, Blue launched the ball to the other end where a streaking Cadougan caught it and laid it in. Cadougan explained where the play came from, "It was actually Coach Autry's suggestion. That is the thing about our team, everybody contributes."
The entire Marquette Nation will be celebrating the victory for another year, while the Badger faithful, despite being sick about it, will downplay the importance. That is how it is with rivalries. There is always a winner, and someone who feels the game wasn't very important, but every one of the 119 meetings between these two programs has been important, no matter what the score, no matter what the records. It's a rivalry, and one of the best in college basketball.
Now Marquette has an entire week off before their next game, and with a full week to prepare, you know Buzz will have his team prepared.