I expect a tough game, very competitive.
MU - 86; Providence - 82
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I expect a tough game, very competitive.
MU - 86; Providence - 82
I think we take care of business. Tight first half, but blow it open in the second. Markus Howard has a big outing.
Marquette 90 - 68 Providence
Could very well happen. The Friars present some match-up problems for MU.
When Bullock plays the 5, Luke will probably have to guard him. That will be tough. Bullock can hit the mid-range jumper but also is not bad from behind the arc, which means Luke will have to come out on him. He can't sag off like he can against many BE 5s, like Wideman of Butler, Delgado of Seton Hall, and Reynolds of Nova. But Bullock is quick enough to take Luke off the dribble, and he handles the ball well enough to attack the basket.
When Young is in the game and Bullock plays the 4, then either Sam or Katin will match up with him, but he is much stronger than either one, and he will be able to post them up as well as beat them off the dribble.
The other major match-up issue, of course, is Cartwright. He is probably the quickest point guard in the league now that Watson is out, and he loves to get into the paint and either score or create for others. Neither Markus nor Rowsey are quick enough to stay in front of him. He has real blow-by quickness. That means we'll have to provide help defense, and that's when Cartwright is at his best, illustrated by his 6.9 apg. That's when Lindsey (47.5% on treys for the season) and Holt (52.5% on field goals overall) get a lot of their open looks.
The problem is made even more difficult because Cartwright can also make treys (37.5%), so we can't sag off him either and just dare him to shoot.
If we can't handle Bullock and Cartwright, we could very easily end up with an "L."
MU by double digits, 86 - 72
We already beat DePaul by a larger margin, and Georgetown aside, Providence has been abysmal on the road, including blowout losses to Xavier and Creighton with losses to Boston College and DePaul to boot. Maybe I ended up wrong, but it's a prediction thread and a sizable win is my prediction.