MU Lays Powder Blue Egg @UL
Marquette rolled out its 4th uniform of the year for a big road game versus Louisville on national TV. If you like that color, it was the only bright spot of the game. The Cardinals owned Marquette tonight, with a final score of 71-51.
In short, Marquette couldn't shoot and couldn't rebound. MU hit a meager 30% from the field, and big goose-egg 0-12 from behind the arc.
UL out-rebounded MU by 13. Marquette has a serious rebounding problem, being bested by 13, 10, 4, and 12 over the past 4 games.
Finding a player of the game for Marquette is tough. McNeal had 16 points on 7-17 shooting .. but he also had a whopping 7 turnovers. Blackledge is my personal best off the bench winner. He's consistently added energy on both ends of the floor for several games now, and one wonders why he isn't getting more minutes.
To add injury to insult, Dominic James, in an off-balance attempt at a circus shot, braced his fall and re-injured his bad wrist. To their discredit, Louisville fans could be heard booing James as he rolled in anguish on the court. No report has been filed on his condition, but with the UConn game three days away, on the road, I would be surprised if DJ heals in time.
So, what does this all mean? Losing at Louisville is not surprising. None of us here at CS predicted this game as win. However, something is to be said about the way in which we lost. Horrendous shooting from long, medium, and short range, which was nearly the opposite of MU's performance 5 days ago vs. Notre Dame. Being out-rebounded each and every game, however, is more of a concern. We've gone .500 being out-rebounded, and I'd expect that to continue if it isn't addressed.
http://www.crackedsidewalks.com/2008/01/mu-lays-powder-blue-egg-ul.html