A Win. Trust in the bench

[tower912]

1.   Foul trouble.    Both teams.   Thank goodness for depth.   It is such a luxury to have as your 9th and 10th man in the rotation a center who has started 40 games and a wing who averaged double digit minutes last year.     
2.  So nice to see Jamal get some decent run.    And he took advantage.
3.  It is so easy to take Markus for granted.  Having a good night.   With Sam in the locker room, he took over even more.   A quiet 36.   LOL.   
4.   Ball movement was the key to the offense tonight.   The whole team did a nice job of letting the ball find the best shot. 
5.  DePaul is so aggressive on the boards.    Out rebounded MU again.    And their aggressiveness got the entire MU front line in trouble.     
6.   If DePaul somehow finds a way to win enough games down the stretch to make the tournament, they are going to give some 4-5 seed a nightmare of a first game.    They are so close.   And they never quit.    They could have rolled over down 20.   
7.   Joey is going to be so good.   But right now he looks like a freshman.   Looks tired.   Needs to get stronger.   Clearly frustrated.   Great to see Markus getting in his grill at the under 4 timeout, telling him 'you're fine'.
8.   Might be the most complete 'team' win of the year.    All 10 had their moments.     Except maybe Chartouny.   
9.  21-4.   The demons of last year's loss exorcised.   
10.   Say a prayer for Sam.   
11.   Rest.   Get healthy.   

[wadesworld]

Love that Jamal and Ed stepped up and played well despite limited minutes throughout the year. Matt just does his job too.

Also loved that after another not great shooting night for Joey, he misses the 3 under a minute and could’ve sulked but Bailey got the putback and Joey clapped for him.

No letdowns. Hopefully it doesn’t take 8 days for Sam’s swollen shut eye to open back up.

[cheese ball chaser]

With competent officiating this is easily a 30+ point W. Feels good to womp a team on the road. Proud of our boys tonight.

[MUEng92]

I wonder if the 36 is just quiet to us who watch him every game or if someone watching him for he first time thinks so too?

[DUNKS45]

The bench was great, officials not so much. Great stuff Tower.

[NickelDimer]

Didn’t see any of the game. What happened to Sam and is he ok?

[MUEng92]

Didn’t see any of the game. What happened to Sam and is he ok?

Poked in the eye. Looked black and blue right away.  We'll see if he's ok

[tower912]

Didn’t see any of the game. What happened to Sam and is he ok?

Sam got raked across the eye by DePaul's Cain.    He made the FT's but then went to the locker room for the rest of the game.   

[AlienWarrior]

Sam came out to shake hands at the end plus he has time to heal if he scratched his cornea b4 the next game

[PGsHeroes32]

Didn’t see any of the game. What happened to Sam and is he ok?

Worst part is. He was fouled multiple times before it. If they call the initial hit to his face that was blatant this doesn’t happen.

Idiot ref was standing right there

[NickelDimer]

Thanks all. Glad it wasn’t a hip injury!

[nyg]

Sam back on bench at end. Good sign.  Saw him say”I can’t see”, after injury, thought that bad.

About six minutes left, DePaul cuts to 12, Wojo takes Heldt out, puts in Theo, game changed.

Markus telling Joey to stop, you’re fine, was pretty cool.  Others also telling him.

Sacar playing out of his mind, good for Jamal, and Joe C hardly played.

Good win, now protect home against Butler.

Side note, sorry:

Now gonna watch Westminster Dog Show.  For you dog lovers, my Golden Retrievers have only made final once, and Labs have never made it to finals or won the group. Both never won best in show.  Amazing

[MomofMUltiples]

When Jamal comes out and plays like that, you can just imagine the other team saying, "That guy is sitting on their BENCH?"

[MULaw14]

Long time reader, innagural post.

Best ball movement I’ve seen all year. By far.

Theo’s weak-side help / shot blocking is just as fun to watch as Markus. Wow.

Loved the WAM chants filling the arena at the end.

You could tell Ed wanted a big night playing back home. He delivered.

A 2 seed might still be in play if we sweep @Nova and a BEast Tournament final appearance happens.

Rest up, get Sam an eye patch. See you in 8 days, Butler.

[PGsHeroes32]

Long time reader, innagural post.

Best ball movement I’ve seen all year. By far.

Theo’s weak-side help / shot blocking is just as fun to watch as Markus. Wow.

Loved the WAM chants filling the arena at the end.

You could tell Ed wanted a big night playing back home. He delivered.

A 2 seed might still be in play if we sweep @Nova and a BEast Tournament final appearance happens.

Rest up, get Sam an eye patch. See you in 8 days, Butler.

We sweep Nova. We can wrap up a 2 seed before BE finals assuming we don’t slip up a bunch in the other games.

15-3 and nova sweep sounds like a 2 to me.

[IrwinFletcher]

Saw a post on Instagram post game. Sam appeared to be fine and even said as much. Happy for 8 days off   

[Jockey]

Long time reader, innagural post.

Best ball movement I’ve seen all year. By far.

Theo’s weak-side help / shot blocking is just as fun to watch as Markus. Wow.

Loved the WAM chants filling the arena at the end.

You could tell Ed wanted a big night playing back home. He delivered.

A 2 seed might still be in play if we sweep @Nova and a BEast Tournament final appearance happens.

Rest up, get Sam an eye patch. See you in 8 days, Butler.

Welcome!

[JakeBarnes]

Hell of a game. Loved everyone getting loud at the end. Feels good to go to an @Depaul game and actually walk out happy.

Definitely great to see Cain get minutes. Tentative out of the gate, but really had some nice minutes. Loved his play on D and boards. 

[real chili 83]

Sam's eye in a boot.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Sam's eye in a boot.

Did Otule leave any spare goggles behind?

[MuMark]

6 turnovers for MU tonight.......we are tough to beat when we don't turn it over.

[WarriorFan]

I had predicted this as (one of) our WTF? losses.

Very glad it wasn't.

Respect to DePaul for improving.

[MU82]

Long time reader, innagural post.

Best ball movement I’ve seen all year. By far.

Theo’s weak-side help / shot blocking is just as fun to watch as Markus. Wow.

Loved the WAM chants filling the arena at the end.

You could tell Ed wanted a big night playing back home. He delivered.

A 2 seed might still be in play if we sweep @Nova and a BEast Tournament final appearance happens.

Rest up, get Sam an eye patch. See you in 8 days, Butler.

Welcome, Law.

Agree about ball movement ... although Turd McPud made Joey have some ball movement back in December - ha!

Really enjoyed this game. My H.S. team had a game at 6, which we pulled out with a rally at the end, and then I got to the bar just in time to watch MU dismantle DePaul. Fun! A bonus is that the bar didn't have the sound on so I didn't have to listen to Dickey!

I had been worried about this game and voiced as much. Love to be wrong, wrong, wrong. It really was never in doubt.

Loved seeing Jamal get some run and step right into that 3. Nice!

Sacar is just a good basketball player ... especially for a guy who is the worst BY FAR.

Sam ... glad to hear others report that he seemed fine long-term. I saw him mouth "I can't see" and was concerned.

Nice 1-2 punch again with Theo and Ed; very, very solid game for Ed.

Markus ... un-effen-real. So lucky to have had a chance to watch him these 3 years.

Great team win and now 8 long days till we get to root for 'em again. Plenty of time for, oh, 349  more rants by guru!

[brewcity77]

The only way DePaul gets in is if they win at MSG on March 16. 11-7 with their non-con & no wins over Nova/MU isn't good enough.

[Marcus92]

Best ball movement I’ve seen all year. By far.

Theo’s weak-side help / shot blocking is just as fun to watch as Markus. Wow.

Great points. When we're passing around the perimeter and cross-court like this to find the open man, the entire offense seems to go into overdrive. Threes, mid-range, post game, it was all working.

Theo really stepped up in the second half. Set the tone defensively and was a big reason for the near 20-point victory margin.

[MULaw14]

Honestly not as worried about Joey as some here have mentioned lately... he’s a freshman, downturns are bound to happen.

Obviously not mentioned here by myself, but I remember being plenty vocal in the stands at how terrible Sam’s post game was last year (one of his few weaknesses at the time IMO). Watching his back down mid-range game tonight, and the majority of this season, goes to show how much can change over one offseason. Theo’s defense is another prime example.

Joey is going to evolve into an all-around great inside out player when it’s all said and done. I look forward to the game (and Scoop comments) when he finally captures that swagger and never looks back.

[We R Final Four]

Long time reader, innagural post.

Best ball movement I’ve seen all year. By far.

Theo’s weak-side help / shot blocking is just as fun to watch as Markus. Wow.

Loved the WAM chants filling the arena at the end.

You could tell Ed wanted a big night playing back home. He delivered.

A 2 seed might still be in play if we sweep @Nova and a BEast Tournament final appearance happens.

Rest up, get Sam an eye patch. See you in 8 days, Butler.

Right on Law14....right on.

[WarriorDad]

There were actually some DePaul fans that thought the refs were screwing the Blue Demons.  Warriors in total control throughout.  What is latest on Sam Hauser? 

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

Nice W.

DePaul is pretty good. Reed is man, and they have some other very nice senior pieces. Too bad they didn’t play a little better in non con.

[tower912]

I had predicted this as (one of) our WTF? losses.

Very glad it wasn't.

Respect to DePaul for improving.

Still waiting for one of those.

[Dr. Blackheart]

With competent officiating this is easily a 30+ point W. Feels good to womp a team on the road. Proud of our boys tonight.

+1.  This crew was widely inconsistent.  Wojo was about ready to pop a buttton 3-4 times. Teams are muscling Markus and the Hausers and they are busy calling feather touches on the bigs. 

[tower912]

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore?gameId=401083263

Box

[WarriorFan]

Still waiting for one of those.

Now I’m hoping we don’t have any.

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

Still waiting for one of those.

St. John's at home?

[Its DJOver]

When was the last time we had more blocked shots than turnovers?  If we only turn the ball over 6 times per, we're not going to lose very many games.

Also, was watching at a bar that had a live band so the game was muted.  What was the deal with that review in the first half after that mix up between Theo and (Gage?)?  The only replays they showed only had the start of it in frame.

[lawdog77]

trying to  erase Dickie's commentary out of my memory, but he was praising the DePaul player and saying Theo was pushing him around...uh OK? Maybe that is why Theo gets called for so many touch fouls. Dickie has an influence.

[jsglow]

When was the last time we had more blocked shots than turnovers?  If we only turn the ball over 6 times per, we're not going to lose very many games.

Also, was watching at a bar that had a live band so the game was muted.  What was the deal with that review in the first half after that mix up between Theo and (Gage?)? The only replays they showed only had the start of it in frame.

That happened RIGHT in front of us.  My limited view (haven't seen any replay) is that the DePaul guy on the ground (Gage?) tried to grab and impede Theo as he was about to head down the court on defense so it wouldn't be a 5 on 4.  Theo clearly took pretty serious offense but, as usual, calmed himself in a nanosecond as the ref called the foul on the DePaul player.  I think they went to the monitor simply to see if Theo crushed his skull in retaliation.  Out on Cermak away from the court, that punk would have been a dead man.

DePaul was incredibly physical all night.  Our guys did a fine job of maintaining composure.  The only way they beat us is by turning it into a brawl.  Frankly, the officials let way too much go on the DePaul end.  I'm told (away from us so couldn't see) Sammy got hit like 3 times before they finally injured him.  Inexcusable.

[Lighthouse 84]

Another observation.  For a top 5-6 POY candidate, Markus gets very few calls.  He got absolutely mugged on a few possessions and the refs kept the whistles in their pockets.

[drewm88]

That happened RIGHT in front of us.  My limited view (haven't seen any replay) is that the DePaul guy on the ground (Gage?) tried to grab and impede Theo as he was about to head down the court on offense so it wouldn't be a 5 on 4.  Theo clearly took pretty serious offense but, as usual, calmed himself in a nanosecond as the ref called the foul on the DePaul player.  I think they went to the monitor simply to see if Theo crushed his skull in retaliation.  Out on Cermak away from the court, that punk would have been a dead man.

Glow and I were behind one of the baskets. A couple of guys in DePaul sweatshirts behind us were acting like first-class a-holes.
A minute or two into the game, one of them shouted at Theo, "Just foul out again already! " Theo shot him a look that would have made that guy pee his pants if the two of them were standing out on Cermak Avenue.

Glow family have a history of Cermak brawls?

[drewm88]

I noticed 3 times when Wojo was screaming at Bailey for being out of position as they got into their sets. Even for a freshman, you'd hope to have that cut way down by mid-February.

[jsglow]

Another observation.  For a top 5-6 POY candidate, Markus gets very few calls.  He got absolutely mugged on a few possessions and the refs kept the whistles in their pockets.

Another area of his game that he can improve on.  He needs to 'force' the whistle.  When you're five foot nuthin' it'll always be a challenge.

[jsglow]

Glow family have a history of Cermak brawls?

Ha! Nope, but I'm taking Theo and Ed with me.  I do the yappin', they do the enforcin'.   

[jsglow]

I noticed 3 times when Wojo was screaming at Bailey for being out of position as they got into their sets. Even for a freshman, you'd hope to have that cut way down by mid-February.

Yep.  There was a point in the second half when Brendan and Cain were in the game together.  Brendan was playing in the 'Joey/Sam' spot but went to his 'traditional' assignment where Cain properly was.  Neither Wojo nor Markus were pleased at all and both let him know vociferously.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Ha! Nope, but I'm taking Theo and Ed with me.  I do the yappin', they do the enforcin'.   

I'd take Ed in a heartbeat. Dude is from Englewood, he doesn't need to do any talking.

[MU82]

St. John's at home?

I'd rate that more as simply "losing one we should have won" vs. a "WTF loss."

To me, the latter implies an inexplicable loss to a team considered much worse -- kind of like Nova falling to Furman or Michigan just losing yesterday to Penn State. After seeing each of those scores, I literally said, "What the ----?!?!?"

We should have beaten St. John's at home, but I don't think too many were absolutely shocked that we lost.

Semantics, I know. Others may disagree.

[JakeBarnes]

That happened RIGHT in front of us.  My limited view (haven't seen any replay) is that the DePaul guy on the ground (Gage?) tried to grab and impede Theo as he was about to head down the court on defense so it wouldn't be a 5 on 4.  Theo clearly took pretty serious offense but, as usual, calmed himself in a nanosecond as the ref called the foul on the DePaul player.  I think they went to the monitor simply to see if Theo crushed his skull in retaliation.  Out on Cermak away from the court, that punk would have been a dead man.

DePaul was incredibly physical all night.  Our guys did a fine job of maintaining composure.  The only way they beat us is by turning it into a brawl.  Frankly, the officials let way too much go on the DePaul end.  I'm told (away from us so couldn't see) Sammy got hit like 3 times before they finally injured him.  Inexcusable.

I was on your side of the court as well. I was impressed with theo's composure. That said, when Gage tried to step up to Theo, it made it clear that Theo is much, much bigger.