Since SOMEBODY has to give you the bad news . . .At the start of the day, MU had never won at Morgantown, losing on both previous trips--dropping a 78-76 loss in 1995, and a 104-85 decision two years ago.
MU did nothing to change that record today, dropping a 79-64 decision at the hands of Bob Huggins' Mounaineers.For most of the game, it looked like this one had the makings of a classic, with each team making well-timed runs to build or retake a lead, which ranged from an early 10 point West Virginia advantage to a 3 point MU margin midway through the 2nd half.
But as with the Syracuse game last season, after playing even for much of the game, MU seemingly ran out of gas with about 6 minutes to play. With a slim 53 - 50, Alex Ruoff hit one of his 5 treys with 6:28 to go, and that appeared to be the nail in the coffin for Marquette.
The Mountaineers used that trey to start a 13-4 run, extending their lead to 12, 66-54 with 2:30 to g0. Â After that point, that insurmountable lead resulted in a parade to the FT line, where WVU hit 13 of 14 from the charity stripe down the stretch to seal the victory.The problems for MU stemmed with the 3 point line--specifically on defense.
West Virginia shot 9-18, for 50% for the game. Rebounding was another trouble spot, with the Mountaineers taking a 38-26 advantage in that stat for the game--much of that rebounding advantage built during that final 6 minute stretch.The game was not without highlights for MU--after a slow start and falling behind 21-11, Marquette turned up the defensive intensity and held WVU without a field goal for nearly a 10 minute stretch in the middle of the first half.
FT shooting was the other bright spot, MU posting an 80% performance on 12-15 shooting.At the start of the season, few (aside from me) at Cracked Sidewalks expected an MU victory in this game.
And my thoughts on how tough WVU would be changed after seeing how strong the Mountaineers had responded to Bob Huggins early in the season. I still maintain that this will be one of the four toughest games all season (along with @ND, @UL and Georgetown at home).
Still, after seeing how well MU played against Providence last week, hopes of a road victory by the MU faithful were raised, perhaps to unrealistic levels.
MU has a chance to avenge the loss with a quick turnaround game on Tuesday against Seton Hall.Marquette's own coverage of the game here.The J/S Online version here.ESPN's roundup here.
http://www.crackedsidewalks.com/2008/01/since-somebody-has-to-give-you-bad-news.html
