http://www.campusrush.com/college-basketball-michigan-state-arizona-kansas-indiana-2093237964.html?xid=socialflow_facebook_siMarquette 95, Vanderbilt 71
Lots of people expressed surprise when Kevin Stallings left Vanderbilt for Pittsburgh last spring. Turns out Stallings knew something they didn't know. With the Commodores having lost two first-rounders to the NBA in Wade Baldwin (pick No. 17) and Damian Jones (No. 30), Stallings must have known this team was poised to struggle. That is especially glaring at the point guard position, where 6' 2" junior Riley LaChance looked overmatched, particularly during a second half in which the Commodores were out-scored by 25 points. It's dangerous to make bold predictions on day one, but I think it's safe to say that Vanderbilt is going to have a hard time making the NCAA tournament under first-year coach Bryce Drew.
The Golden Eagles, of course, had their own first-round pick to replace in Henry Ellenson, but the last thing Steve Wojciechowski has to be concerned about is finding enough bodies. He played nine players double-digit minutes in the win and has 11 guys total whom he believes can give him serviceable minutes. I worry a little bit about the Golden Eagles being too dependent on the three-point shot (they attempted 31 threes to just five free throws), because they're not always going to shoot 42% like they did Friday night. Senior guard Jajuan Johnson, who averaged 10 points last season, was drained three three-pointers en route to scoring 21 points.
I was especially interested to see how 6' 6" senior Katin Reinhardt would look in his Marquette debut. Reinhardt played one season at UNLV, transferred to USC for two seasons and came to Marquette as a graduate transfer. Seeing a player switch schools twice during his career is usually a red flag for me, and Reinhardt has a long-held tendency to be a volume shooter. That was the case in this game as he shot 4 for 14 (1 for 6 from three) and did not attempt a free throw. If he is not more efficient moving forward, I'd expect his minutes could dwindle.
I'm always on the lookout for promising freshmen, and Wojciechowski definitely has one in 6' 7" forward Sam Hauser, who had 14 points and made four of his seven three-point attempts. Hauser is agile and skilled, which makes him really effective in pick-and-roll situations.
With this kind of depth, Marquette can turn up the defensive pressure and try to wear teams down in the second half the way they did against Vanderbilt. That is a pretty good template moving forward. Again, it's early, early, early, but on first glance, this looks like a tourney team to me.
