http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/cs-0611210465nov21,1,7528630.column?coll=cs-columnistsKANSAS CITY, Mo. -- No longer are they "the Kids." That was their nickname last season when they were callow freshmen at Marquette. Now they are older and wiser and more familiar with the college game, marinated by experience and seasoned by hard knocks and the centerpiece of the 16th-ranked team in the country.
But one fact has not changed about Dominic James, Jerel McNeal and Wesley Matthews, perimeter players all.
"We compete at everything," says McNeal, and he is not talking only of basketball. Video games. Cards. Board games. Even rock-paper-scissors. They also compete in stuff like that and, admits McNeal with a loud laugh, "It can get nasty at times."
"Regardless of what it is, we love to compete," chips in James. "We compete in everything we do and that carries over to the playing field. When you're around guys you compete against every single day, you find new respect for that person. I mean, we bring out the best in each other."
This is a trait that cannot be coached, a trait any coach covets in his players, a trait that is so ingrained in this trio that it even manifests itself in conversation, which segues to Bob Knight and Texas Tech and the Golden Eagles' imminent game with the Red Raiders.
"Being from Indiana, it's going to be an honor playing against coach Knight," James says of this matchup, which is 48 hours away as he speaks.
But then, despite that notable bit of courtesy, he pointedly adds, "This is the thing you love, that you wait for. That's college basketball.
"I've been sitting at home, watching the preseason tournaments going on. I just can't wait for our opportunity to show the nation what Marquette basketball is all about. That time has come. Now it's time for us to go out there and show the world."
That is just what the Golden Eagles did on Monday night, when they ran off to an impressive 87-72 win over the Red Raiders in a semifinal of the CBE Classic.
The victory not only moved them into a championship meeting Tuesday with No. 11 Duke, but it also displayed just why the Golden Eagles can be so dangerous and destructive.
Their fulcrum is clearly their interchangeable triumvirate of sophomores, who take turns at the point and once again were the catalyst of their triumph. James scored 16 points and McNeal had 19 points, seven assists and seven rebounds. Matthews scored 20 points and handed out six assists and grabbed four rebounds, and later Knight was calling him "a kid who can do everything."
But it is more than just numbers that defines this team, which is still in search of a pure and reliable outside shooter. With big men who are primarily defenders and rebounders, that means Marquette must create its points with a defense that is always on the attack.
"We have to get our game set defensively and on the backboards," coach Tom Crean said after its win, and that is just what the Golden Eagles did when they jumped on the Red Raiders early and never rested. They turned them over four times in the first five minutes, 18 times on the evening. That got them four easy layups in the first five minutes and 46 points in the paint on the evening.
Texas Tech could never handle the Golden Eagles' relentlessness, which now must be considered their calling card, nor could it handle them on the boards, where the Golden Eagles outrebounded them 39-28.
"Our main problem tonight is we ran into a team that's better than we are," Knight said. "I was really impressed. . . . They've done a good job with those kids in how hard they play and how unselfishly they play."
"We're going to compete with you, we're going to come ready to play," James said. "I think we showed the country that tonight.
"But really our job's not done. We've got a great competitor [to face] in Duke, and we've got to come with the same mind-set. We've got to show the same competitive toughness we had tonight."
