[Cracked Sidewalks] MU down 13, storms back to beat Prov by 9.

[CrackedSidewalksSays]

MU down 13, storms back to beat UProv by 9.

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

After trailing for most of the first 26 minutes, Marquette was in the odd position of NOT being the fastest team on the court.  Providence's players were beating MU off the dribble, blowing by our guards with frequency.  PC was shooting in the high 60s, and Marquette was DOWN THIRTEEN POINTS.

And then Marquette snapped out of their funk, and put together two 14-3 runs over the next dozen minutes to shock the Friars.  Acker was instrumental with his defense, and coming up with 3 steals down the stretch.  Lazar was amazing, draining 4 of his 5 three-pointers in the final 10 minutes.

MU had THREE 20+ point players .. Lazar with 25, McNeal with 25, Wes with 22.  Tough to beat a team with those kind of numbers.

Marquette's lineups were odd all night, with Burke and Hazel sitting down in favor of Butler, Fulce, and Acker.  Buzz later explained that Burke and Hazel "weren't running down the court" and with PC's quick offense, were allowing points.

While MU took control those last 14 minutes, Buzz concluded with Homer: "We were absolutely pitiful in many ways and brilliant in others."

Coming back from 13 down was a huge statement by the Warriors and will be looked back upon as evidence that with DJ, Wes, McNeal and Lazar on the court, Marquette has a very high ceiling.

Marquette is now 5-0 in Big East play, has another week off, then plays a hapless DePaul team at the Bradley Center making a 6-0 start very likely.

---

One scary moment, at the 17 minute mark, in what was clean defensive play, PC player Jeff Xavier ran into Joe Fulce.  Xavier went down clutching his face on the contact.  Replays showed Fulce's play was clean, and Xavier simply caught Fulce's elbow in a bad spot.  Apparently, the refs did NOT call that foul, yet called a foul 2 seconds later on Fulce.

In an unbelievable lapse of security, a fan from the stands, Xavier's brother, sauntered onto the court to confront Fulce.  Buzz quickly yanked his players off the court and after a good 15 seconds, someone coaxed Xavier's brother off the court and out of the building.  -- Coincidentally (or not) the Refs called a grand total of 3 fouls on Providence over the next 12 minutes.

Even Providence fans are upset:  "That guy should have been tackled to the floor with a tire knocker in his throat. Where was security? Off having a beer and pretzel?"  "I thought security was ho-hum about the incident.  Disgrace that it happened but how security failed to act was even a more of a disgrace.. could have been worse!"

Note to Providence, note to DDCenter, note to Big East HQ:  That security team needs a lesson in how to quickly respond to threatening fans on the court.   That response was a total joke, and should not be tolerated in Big East play.

AP Photos
ESPN Box
AP Recap
Rosiak Recap

http://www.crackedsidewalks.com/2009/01/mu-down-13-storms-back-to-beat-uprov-by.html

[77ncaachamps]

Trivial matter: Though I like the title PU for Providence, they're actually PC - Providence College.

[mu_hilltopper]

Dang.  I've been calling it UProv for years.  I do not know why.

Well, I am firing our fact checker for the 8th time.