[Cracked Sidewalks] Marquette Fails and Passes Test

[CrackedSidewalksSays]

Marquette Fails and Passes Test

Written by: hilltopper91@gmail.com (Kevin Buckley (Hilltopper))

#8 Marquette lost a game most expected to lose today, bowing to #6 Louisville on the road 58-62.

But how Marquette lost should give Warrior nation great hope for our immediate, Dominic James-less future.

Had you been told MU would be without their star PG, would be forced to start a 5'9" shrimp in his place .. and their star SG would have a miserable offensive night, missing 16 of 19 .. you'd have had nightmares of a 30 point thrashing at Freedom Hall.

That didn't happen.  While DJ was missed, Marquette did not play like a team with an important cog missing.  -- Other than McNeal perhaps trying too hard to make up for DJ's absence, forcing up too many shots that bricked.

This bodes well for MU's future, playing @Pitt, home vs. Syracuse, the BET, and the NCAAs.   Simply put:  Even without DJ, Marquette took the #6 team in the country down to the wire.  -- Had McNeal been able to bring even his C+ offense, the Warriors would have walked out with a W.

Marquette never quit, broke the highly touted Louisville press well, committing only 11 turnovers .. and even managed to tie UL 37-37 on rebounds.

Acker was laudable in his 33 minutes of play, handling the ball well, with 3 assists, 3 rebs, and just 2 turnovers.  Jimmy Butler had 6 points and 10 rebounds in 26 minutes off the bench.

Lazar notched another double-double with 16 and 10, on a very efficient 6-11 shooting, while Matthews poured in 19, and was unfortunate in a no-call at the end of the game.  (See video below.)

Marquette goes to #1 Pittsburgh on Wednesday with their heads held high, and hopes up.

AP Recap
Box Score
Rosiak Recap

Last shot by Wes .. no foul?  You judge:

http://www.viddler.com/player/b5aa8992/

http://www.crackedsidewalks.com/2009/03/marquette-fails-and-passes-test.html