Why do we let teams like Rutgers hang around? Sure way

[79Warrior]

to get upset.

[MUCam]

Just out of curiosity....how do you define "hang around." The game I saw included Rutgers getting no closer than 8 for the duration of the second half, going up by at least 15 towards the end.

[lab_warrior]

This isn't as bad as the Pitt, Louisville, or Seton Hall game.  We took care of business pretty well in this one.  But for sure, we need to work on sticking the dagger in opponents when we get up by a big margin.

[ozmetal71]

We closed out the game with a 27-14 run.....that is putting a team away I would say.

Funny how now we are at the point where we are complaining about style points.

[79Warrior]

This game was closer than the final score indicated. Come on, Rutgers is the bottom of the league. They never should have been within 8 in the second half of a home game for us. Rutgers has nothing.

[77ncaachamps]

I feel your sentiment. Rutgers scrapped and got some second chances they shouldn't have.

Don't let the closing run deceive you: if this wasn't Rutgers, this game would be a lot closer. Scrutinize MU's play toward the end against an inept Rutgers offense. Not good.

[murocky01]

To all of the MU fans that watched the game, they know that we dominated the majority of the game.  To everyone else that sees the score tomorrow, they will see that we dominated them by 20 points in the end.  The only thing that matters is the W.

Bottom line: This team is getting it done when they need to.  You can criticize them all you want, but they have been one of the best teams in the country the past month.  Lets just keep it going through March!

[CWSKeith]

This game was closer than the final score indicated. Come on, Rutgers is the bottom of the league. They never should have been within 8 in the second half of a home game for us. Rutgers has nothing.

Not really.  Did you ever feel this game was in doubt?  I sure didn't...

That's not to say that I feel Marquette played their best game; far from it.  I thought the defensive intensiy, while strong for a good part of the game, lacked in some stretches.  We also shot pretty poorly from beyond the ark (haven't looked at the box score, but some of those threes were ugly -- not the shot selection, as they were mostly wide open, but just the shots themselves).

But this game was never in doubt.  And Rutgers plays a style of game that allows them to hang around -- they take about 20-25 seconds before they even think about attacking the hoop, and they don't play a pressure defense (they sit back in zone). 

[mutpm]

The only thing Rutgers controlled was tempo.  There were only 57 possessions in the game.  That's a VERY slow game.  Part of the reason for the low possessions is that there were very few turnovers, 19 combined.  MU was very efficient on offense scoring 1.18 points per possession and holding Rutgers to 0.82 points per possession. 

My question is, what else do you expect out of this team?  That was a very solid performance last night.  Not flashy or spectacular, but very solid.   

[RawdogDX]

Motion to ban ridiculously spoiled sounding posts from the board.  Do I have a second?

[MU gimp ONE]

Motion to ban ridiculously spoiled sounding posts from the board.  Do I have a second?

ill 2nd that motion... this game was never in doubt in my mind.  marquette played solid and rutgers slowed the tempo so that they could stick around.  how many times did rutgers get a deep 3 with under 5 on the shot clock.  marquette was playing solid D, especially ooze and fitz (great help D from both down low). the final score is correct as that is the way the game felt the whole time even if they were within 8 in the 2nd half.

[WashDCWarrior]

At the end of the game the announcers commented that it was a closer game than the score indicated.  I did a double take.  Ok, fine it was more like a 15 pt win than a 20 pt win.  Who cares?  Game wasn't in doubt in the 2nd half.  The spread was 17.5 and we beat it.

[CTWarrior]

Agreed, game was more like a 15 point game.  Rutgers didn't play that game to win, they played to keep it close.  They were still running 25 seconds off the shot clock down 14 with 3 minutes to go!  They cut it to 40-34 at one point, but you never had the sense that the game was in doubt.

[MarquetteVol]

It would have taken Rutgers another 20 minutes of basketball to overcome our 20 point lead. They scored 47 points IN THE GAME. How's that for domination? Plus, this is the Big East and even the bad teams are not that horrible.