The Dec. 6, 2006, story on Marquette's win over Delaware State, which is included below, notes that, "(Wesley) Matthews scored 10 of his 15 points in the first 4 minutes 1 second to help MU get out of the gate quickly."
Marquette's success the rest of the season relies on its ability to "get out of the gate quickly." So far, we have had our most-hyped player begin almost every game very slowly, in some cases scoring no or almost no points in the first half. Other MU players have tended to start slowly, too.
The result: Weaker teams have been able to stay in many games against MU and, in too many cases, have even held the lead at halftime.
As MU enters the tough stretch of its season, slow starts could prove "fatal" in many games, including against the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
No one on our team should be waiting for Dominic James to get hot. Often, after all, he is not "there" at the start and only kicks it into gear when the heat is on.
We need Matthews and others doing exactly what Matthews did against Delaware State. Quick points will determine how Marquette does from now through March
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Warm-up rout
Golden Eagles finally able to focus attention on UW
By TODD ROSIAK
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Published: Dec. 6, 2006
Enough with the preliminaries. It's time for the main event.
With Delaware State now out of the way thanks to a 65-48 drubbing on Tuesday night at the Bradley Center, the Marquette Golden Eagles are finally free to focus on their annual intra-state grudge match with the Wisconsin Badgers.
The 113th incarnation of the rivalry takes place at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Bradley Center. It will mark just the third time the two teams have been ranked when playing each other, and the first time since Jan. 20, 2003, when the No. 22 Badgers beat the No. 23 Golden Eagles, 62-58, in Madison.
With UW (8-1) ranked 11th and MU (9-1) ranked 17th, it's also the highest both will have been ranked while facing each other, increasing the hype surrounding the matchup even more ... if that's possible.
"There's no way to downplay it; it's Marquette-Wisconsin," said coach Tom Crean, who recorded his 150th career victory. "Basically it's all we've heard since we got back from winning against Duke, so I know it's a big deal to a lot of people.
"But when you've got a lot of games like we've had you've got to keep focusing on each and every game, and this is a good feeling getting a win like this to get ready for this game."
Led by Jerel McNeal's 16 points, four players scored in double figures for MU, which desperately needed a solid performance to build upon after its 64-60 upset loss to North Dakota State on Saturday.
Wesley Matthews added 15 points and a team-high five assists, and Dominic James and Dan Fitzgerald added 13 points apiece for the Golden Eagles, who were out-rebounded for the second straight game (34-32) but got back on track on offense by hitting 50 percent of their shots overall (23 for 46) and 60 percent of their threes (9 for 15).
Fitzgerald also pulled down a team-high seven rebounds and canned 3 of 5 three-pointers while starting at power forward in place of Jamil Lott, helping provide the offensive spacing Crean thought MU had been lacking of late.
"It was fun to get my first start, but the roles didn't really change for this game," Fitzgerald said.
Added Crean: "He can really pass the ball, he can make threes, so they have to honor that. He got to the rim. He can guard different people. He's very versatile, he's a veteran and he knows what he's doing."
Matthews scored 10 of his 15 points in the first 4 minutes 1 second to help MU get out of the gate quickly.
On defense, the Golden Eagles were again active early and it paid dividends in a big way. They held the Hornets without a field goal for the final 8:39 of the half in taking a 32-24 halftime lead.
They then used a 17-3 run midway through the second half to put the Hornets (2-7) away for good.
All told, MU converted 17 turnovers into 23 points, getting back on track in that area as well after struggling to cash in against North Dakota State.
"I've said it time and time again: Defense is what we want to hang our hats on," said Matthews, who had three of MU's 11 steals. "When you're having a little rough stretch on offense you have to be able to lean on your defense. When your defense is giving you buckets, that's your best offense."
MU now has three full days to prepare for UW, which is coming off an 82-79 overtime victory over Winthrop on Monday night at the Kohl Center.
The game will feature a number of interesting storylines, including the opposing strengths of the two teams. MU relies heavily upon its perimeter play, whereas UW is strongest along its front line.
UW won the teams' last meeting, 77-63, last Dec. 10 in Madison.
"It's a big game. I circled it when I first came here, when I signed the letter to come here," said Matthews, a Madison native. "You have to look at it as another game. It's hard to, because of the rivalry and the atmosphere that's going to be here, but it is another game.
"They're going to come ready to play, and we're going to be here."
fast starts will help......but there will still be 35 mins to play after that. DJ's slow starts are troublesome -- and the inept FT shooting continues to surprise me.
I could not agree more regarding our slow starts. What seems to be the problem is the players are not recognizing if it is their night or not and think they can play through it. We have enough talent on this team to find the hot hand and go to it till the other coach tries to stop it and does and then let TC and company go to work coaching.
In all our games this year it has been a free for all to whoever has the ball which will kill you against the Big East.