[Rosiak's Blog] MU 81, Rutgers 76

[ToddRosiakSays]

MU 81, Rutgers 76


Jan. 7, 2009 8:49 p.m.  




Piscataway, N.J. – Four days earlier, Jerel McNeal was nearly perfect from the floor in a victory over Cincinnati.

On Thursday night, Wesley Matthews did him one better.

The senior guard set a school record by knocking down all 10 of his shots while finishing with a game-high 23 points to lead the Marquette Golden Eagles past the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, 81-76, at the Louis Brown Athletic Center.

MU wound up needing every one of those shots and points as well, as it saw a 21-point lead with just over 12 minutes left whittled down to just two with 37.0 seconds left before  four free throws apiece by Lazar Hayward and McNeal over the final 34.2 finally put the game away for the 18th-ranked Golden Eagles (14-2, 3-0 Big East).

Matthews' performance eclipsed the previous mark for accuracy (on a mimimum of 10 shots), 90.9%, which was accomplished by three players with 10-for-11 performances. The last to do so was Trevor Powell, who went 10 for 11 against Chicago State on Dec. 20, 1989.

McNeal finished with 16 points, Dominic James 15 and Hayward 10 for MU.

Rutgers (9-7, 0-3), which took then-No. 3 Pittsburgh down to the wire at home in its previous game, got 22 points from freshman guard Mike Rosario and 19 from Corey Chandler.

The Golden Eagles appeared to have put the game away right out of the locker room in the second half, using a 14-4 run to extend a nine-point halftime lead to 51-32.

The spurt was a microcosm of the entire game for MU: a little bit from everyone, as Matthews, Hayward, James and McNeal all had a basket. It was McNeal’s three from the left wing off a pretty pass from James that capped it, and forced Rutgers coach Fred Hill to burn a time out to try and regroup.

The lead was 57-36 with 12:19 left when Rutgers made a 10-0 charge of its own, set up by the first sloppy stretch of play by MU on the night. A layup by Chandler pulled the Scarlet Knights to within 57-46, prompting Buzz Williams to respond with a time out of his own.

Matthews stopped the bleeding immediately out of that with a pretty floater in the lane, and after a Rutgers miss Maurice Acker set up McNeal for a layup that made it 61-46 with 8:06 left.

But the Scarlet Knights, who lost last week to the top three teams in the Associated Press’ media poll in a six-day span, began showing some of that fight that Williams expected out of them and before long had made it a two-possession game at 66-61 with 4:36 left, getting the once-dead crowd back into the game in the meantime.

Rutgers finally got to within a basket at 72-69 on a putback dunk by J.R. Inman with 48.2 seconds remaining, and after McNeal split a pair of free throws on the other end, got to within 73-71 on a falling Rosario jumper.

But from there, Hayward’s and McNeal’s rock-solid efforts from the charity stripe gave the Golden Eagles just enough leeway to ultimately escape with the victory.

MU opened the game with a stifling defensive effort, forcing Rutgers into nine turnovers by the second media time out. Ball pressure on the Scarlet Knights’ guards was the most effective tool for the Golden Eagles, who cashed four of those in for eight points.

Shockingly, it was Dwight Burke who led MU out to a 16-10 lead with six points, an effort that matched his season high. Matched against Rutgers’ 6-foot-9, 260-pound Gregory Echenique, Burke scored the game’s first points by banking in a jumper from the top, then added a left-handed jump hook and layup, while helping hold Echenique scoreless on the other end.

A quick 6-0 run, fueled by layups off Rutgers miscues, staked MU to a 16-10 lead by the 12:20 mark, and from there the Golden Eagles were able to keep at least a few baskets ahead of the Scarlet Knights despite both Burke and Pat Hazel – the team’s two most experienced post players – picking up two fouls.

Neither McNeal nor Rosario, the two hottest offensive players heading into the game, could get anything going early on. McNeal didn’t take his first shot until about five minutes in, and didn’t get onto the board until a steal and layup with 12:51 left.

That wound up being his only basket of the half, but with Matthews and James shouldering the offensive load, not to mention an unexpected seven points off the bench from Jimmy Butler and the six from Burke, the Golden Eagles headed into intermission with a 37-28 lead.

McNeal’s contributions on the defensive end, along with James’, were central in keeping Rosario under wraps. Rutgers’ leading scorer coming into the game at 17.3 points per game, the freshman didn’t hit his first shot until 6:55 was left in the first half. He wound up scoring six in the opening 20 minutes.

Echenique and 6-11 shot-blocker Hamady Ndiaye, both of whom figured to present tough matchups for the Golden Eagles, wound up being non-factors for Rutgers, which was led by Chandler’s 12 points.

Matthews led all scorers with 12 points while James added eight for MU, which scored 30 of its 37 points in the paint – paving the way for 54.8% shooting – and forced 11 turnovers.

For the second consecutive game, MU also got little out of Hayward in the first half. Again saddled with two early fouls, he played only 11 minutes and scored two points. His absence was mitigated by Butler’s strong performance, however.

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http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/37244929.html

[chapman]

For the second consecutive game, MU also got little out of Hayward in the first half. Again saddled with two early fouls, he played only 11 minutes and scored two points. His absence was mitigated by Butler's strong performance, however.

We should start a pool- "How long will it take Hayward to pick up his (first) early charging foul?"  It's happening EVERY game, and most of them are boneheaded.  Though it looks like Jimmy Butler is becoming even worse at drilling into a guy who's been cemented to the floor for 10 seconds before he runs right into him.  I'm glad they're being aggressive, and since Butler is learning and trying to find his offensive game it's a little more understandable, but nevertheless it's a mistake that keeps happening and a correctable one.

[BaltimoreMC]

Ring-a-ding-ding.  Hayward's tickie-tack & offensive fouls really hurt the team.  I will say though, as a team, we seem to be doing better in the stupid foul category this year (something that I know Buzz has stressed).  But it seems that Hayward hasn't gotten the message. 

[Badgerhater]

Hayward just needs to stop with the stupid charges.   He now has a rep for doing 2 a game so he will get no benefit of the doubt from the refs....he needs to figure that out and adjust his game.