(Stopping the) Running of the Bulls

[tower912]

1.  Remember when some wanted Wojo gone?   Remember when some thought Markus was playing too much hero ball?
2.  Buffalo came out and punched MU right in the mouth.  (I never read tonight's game thread, but if tradition holds there was some really stupid stuff written)   MU withstood even with Markus in foul trouble.    It is a testament to the rest of the team and to Wojo as a coach that the team rode the storm out and came back getting little from Markus in the first half.   The team will be better for it. 
3.   Theo John is a baaaddddddd man.   Almost as much fun as the old block parties.   So is Ed Morrow.   I would have been in traction if I took a fall like that.   
4.  Markus' third foul was dumb.    And Sam's two to start the second half were careless.   
5.  Buffalo will not lose a game in the MAC.    That is a tough team. 
6.  I don't know that I was unhappy with a single shot all night (other than Sacar's.   Finish strong).    Good looks did not fall. 
7.   Cain and Chartouny played well.   Chartouny probably should have played more in the second half. 
8.   Rebounding and defense.    Ahhhhhhhhhhhh.
9.  Hero ball.    You die with it, you live with it.     A star turn from a star.    There will be other frustrating games.    There always are.   But the kid deserves some love.  He is a special college basketball player.   
10.   A great team effort tonight.    Triple freakin digits.  Against a top 15 team. 
11.   MU has played a tough non-conference schedule and is (more than likely.   I assume MU will beat Southern) going to finish up with only 2 losses.     And some still lost their minds.  There are questions.    How will MU play on the road in conference.   But MU has only played 3 bad halves of basketball through 12 games.     There will be league road losses.   Accept it and hold onto your (crap).     This is a good team.    Stay healthy and it will be just fine.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Wheres duanewade?

Doesn't want to come out and play anymore?

Bitch

[Dish]

I'll argue that's the second best win of the Woj era. That Buffalo team is really good. Huge, huge win.

[jesmu84]

Wheres duanewade?

Doesn't want to come out and play anymore?

I'm excited to see how this win gets minimized and wojo gets no credit

[rocket surgeon]

    wojo's job safe for another game?

[Vander Blue Man Group]

I'm excited to see how this win gets minimized and wojo gets no credit

Outstanding job managing the foul trouble.

[nyg]

Haven't seen anything like what Markus did since Pistol Pete Maravich, that was just scary.

Buffalo stopped flopping in second half, got the message from refs in first half.

Cain got Bailey's minutes tonight.  Joe C made two bad turnovers at about 13 minute mark in second half.  Put Cain in for Joe, Wojo pissed.  For almost entire time since that, it was Markus, Cain, Sam, Joey and Theo.  Rest is history.

Finally Theo with no early fouls and sent to bench.  He was outstanding because he knew fouls not an issue and he could be aggressive. 

Sacar was like 1 for 11, but he took over from Sam, early in first half, on defense of Massinberg.

Only three turnovers in second half. 

[Dish]

I'm glad this game was when it was. Enjoy the holiday, come back for a let down against Southern, and then the conference starts. I'm very glad Southern is sandwiched where it is on the schedule.

[whitykj]

This was fun.  When Howard gets in a zone like that, anything he throws up is a good shoot. 

[Otule's Glass Eye]

I will never slander Markus hero ball ever again

[MUEng92]

We have a question on our culture fit interview script at work that asks "tell us about something you did successfully that you would never want to do again?".  Playing Buffalo would be an acceptable answer.

[PGsHeroes32]

Some gotta buy Theo a nice rub and tug tonight

What a stud

[Spaniel with a Short Tail]

Lead story on SportsCenter

[JakeBarnes]

I have minimal insight. That was amazing. I was cackling like a weirdo in a half empty BWW in Oxford OH during the Markus video game montage.

[MU82]

1. 40 points in a half. After sucking in the first half. A-freakin'-mazing.

2. Markus' second half was the most impressive thing in the game. Duh. But a close second: How well the rest of the team did when Markus was stinking up the joint in the first half.

3. Here's the Buffalo News quickie lead:

MILWAUKEE -- The University at Buffalo finally ran into a guard it could not lock up Friday night.

Marquette point guard Markus Howard scored 45 points in leading the 20th-ranked Golden Eagles to a 103-85 victory over the 14th-ranked Bulls. Howard scored 40 of his points after halftime.

Howard, a 5-foot-11 junior, was averaging 23.2 points a game. He's the preseason favorite for Big East player of the year. Perimeter defense is a big strength of the Bulls, but Howard's quick release was too tough for UB.

That's the thing. Buffalo is a good defensive team that has not let good shooters get going all season.

4. Also only 1 TO in the second half after 5 in the first half.

5. Loved hearing Bardo rave about our defense.

6. The narrative that it was time for Theo to sit down and cede the position to the more experienced Morrow ... buh-bye. As usual, Wojo has a very nice feel for how to manage the 5 position; even when he was learning on the fly earlier in his head-coaching career, he had a nice feel there. Go with the most effective man on any given night. Great job, Theo. Great job, Wojo. And for that matter ... great job, Ed. He didn't do anything bad to have minutes taken away. He was good when he was in there. But Theo played extraordinarily well against a tough, veteran team.

7. Really liked what we got from Cain, and really liked how Wojo managed the wing minutes, too.

8. Except for the 2 fouls at the start of the second half, very smart and efficient game from Sam. Hit some big 3s when we needed them after he came back into the game.

9. Very, very entertaining game. Watching on TV, our crowd sounded loud and into it.

10. JCS with a nice game. Hit a huge shot-clock 3, made another 3, really helped the team in the first half when Markus was either stinking or in foul trouble (or both).

11. The Warrior Eagles have already exceeded my expectations, as I predicted 10-3 in NC. (Yes, I'm assuming win over Southern; shoot me.) Sky's the limit for this team. We have a lot of ways to beat opponents.

12. I wish the BEast season started in 3 or 4 days! Looking forward to taking down the Johnnies.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

I have minimal insight. That was amazing. I was cackling like a weirdo in a half empty BWW in Oxford OH during the Markus video game montage.

Oh man, I do the cackle too after any sort of big run. Hope my downstairs neighbours didn't hear me jumping.

[Herman Cain]

Great Performance .  Thoroughly enjoyed the work of the team . Kudos to the coaching staff.

[MUEng92]

The sounds coming out of me during the second half could only be described with your word...cackling. And I enjoyed every minute of it

[mileskishnish72]

Nice to see Jamal get a little run. Had a bad TO but got back and made a great defensive play.

[Archies Bat]

Nice to see Jamal get a little run. Had a bad TO but got back and made a great defensive play.

And good that he was left in after the TO.  He seemed to play with more focus and confidence tonight.

[marquette09]

That buffalo team is legit.   I would not want to play them in March.    Great win!

[MU82]

Digging that it was on a Friday night, too. I wish we had some of those during the conference season.

[Its DJOver]

Haven't seen anything like what Markus did since Pistol Pete Maravich, that was just scary.

Buffalo stopped flopping in second half, got the message from refs in first half.

Cain got Bailey's minutes tonight.  Joe C made two bad turnovers at about 13 minute mark in second half.  Put Cain in for Joe, Wojo pissed.  For almost entire time since that, it was Markus, Cain, Sam, Joey and Theo.  Rest is history.

Finally Theo with no early fouls and sent to bench.  He was outstanding because he knew fouls not an issue and he could be aggressive. 

Sacar was like 1 for 11, but he took over from Sam, early in first half, on defense of Massinberg.

Only three turnovers in second half.

Box says that Joe C only had one TO.  The fact that no one other than Markus had more than one TO is very encouraging, even Jamal's bad TO was amended by his run down block. 

When one player goes off the way that Markus did, it's easy to say that there was no balance offensively, but three others had double digits not including Theo's monster all around game. 

Sacar struggled shooting, but made up for it with some nice D. I believe Massingburg had 9 1st half points, and he only had 12 when Joey fouled him for the 4 point play.  Ended up with 18, but the second half D on him was excellent until it was out of reach.

Great all around win.

[Vander Blue Man Group]

That buffalo team is legit.   I would not want to play them in March.    Great win!

4 quality wins going into conference play.

Even without Markus going nuclear there are so many positives to take away from tonight.

-John/Morrow combo. Feel great about both of them.
-Joe looked better
-Really positive minutes from Jamal in a big game
-Joey just keeps getting better

[MUEng92]

There was offensive balance. It was all Markus in the second half and everyone but Markus in the first half.