(Stopping the) Running of the Bulls

[MU82]

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.

Great points, IDJO.

[21Jumpstreet]

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

Loved seeing Cain. He also made a couple excellent defensive decisions, like jabbing to the lane but floating back on the corner three man, that won't get any pub but were huge. He was very good.

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

I don't know that I have seen an MU individual offense performance better than Markus in H2. Amazing

Defense great.  Even when we were chasing in 1h the help and rim protection was very good. 

This is the second best team we have played this year.  Great way to end a tough non conf schedule. 

[TVDirector]

Markus's 2nd half performance was flat out sick. 
Not sure if I've ever witnessed anything quite like it. 
Sick. 

[wadesworld]

Rewatching the game and didn't notice this during the game.  When Sacar got hacked...I mean, blocked out of bounds...to the ground towards the end of the first half the guy who hac...I mean, blocked...him said something to him.  Theo heard it and gave him a little shoulder and said something to him.  Love it.

[Vander Blue Man Group]

Rewatching the game and didn't notice this during the game.  When Sacar got hacked...I mean, blocked out of bounds...to the ground towards the end of the first half the guy who hac...I mean, blocked...him said something to him.  Theo heard it and gave him a little shoulder and said something to him.  Love it.

Anyone who says Wojo can't develop players just needs to look at Theo.

[GB Warrior]

I'm extremely pleased with how we won. Rode out the storm and got very well rounded contributions. Theo played the best game of his career, and he's going to continue to get better.

[Autoengineer]

I'll add... we need to give some credit to the refs for not calling all those Buffalo flops. 

[MU82]

I'll add... we need to give some credit to the refs for not calling all those Buffalo flops.

Agreed. I even said it out loud when they didn't call the second one.

[Jockey]

There was a point in the game -maybe around 8 minutes to go - where I said out loud that Buffalo just quit. It was a point where they knew they weren't going to beat Marquette.

A great thing to see - that is what we should do to opponents on our home floor. Take away their will to fight.

[MU82]

There was a point in the game -maybe around 8 minutes to go - where I said out loud that Buffalo just quit. It was a point where they knew they weren't going to beat Marquette.

A great thing to see - that is what we should do to opponents on our home floor. Take away their will to fight.

I think I know the point you're talking about. I turned to Mrs. 82 and said, "For the first time, I'm sure we're gonna win this game."

[MU82]

Apologizing in advance ...

After our game ended, I couldn't help but watch Providence go into the Shaka Shack and take down the Fightin' Shakas.

Also, if only we coulda picked Cuonzo so he coulda left us for Mizzou after accomplishing next to nothing.

All right ... back to our regularly scheduled program.

[tower912]

In the 52 point game against Providence, Markus had 42 in the second half and overtime.     So, we HAVE seen something close to this before. 

[tower912]

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore?gameId=401083252

Box.   Lots of big numbers. 

[barfolomew]

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore?gameId=401083252

Box.   Lots of big numbers.

Tatanka basically had a 6-man rotation? What was the deal with Montell McRae that he only played 5 min?

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Tatanka basically had a 6-man rotation? What was the deal with Montell McRae that he only played 5 min?

I do think they hit a bit of a wall in fairness. Had a pretty tough game against Cuse then traveled to Milwaukee.

Buuuuuut I couldn't care less if they were tired or not.

[mr.MUskie]

Loved seeing Cain. He also made a couple excellent defensive decisions, like jabbing to the lane but floating back on the corner three man, that won't get any pub but were huge. He was very good.

Cain was able.

[brewcity77]

Tatanka basically had a 6-man rotation? What was the deal with Montell McRae that he only played 5 min?

He had a pretty bad 5 minutes. 0/3 from the field and 3 fouls. He just wasn't strong enough to handle us down low.

[JakeBarnes]

After getting over the "holy forking shirtballs" part of this game, I was finally able to think through it.

1. What Markus did was highly impressive. His eyes glazed over and you could tell it was time. I told my wife after the and-1 3 pt that he might go nuclear because had the eye glaze over.

2. That said, this was one of my favorite "team" games. 1st half against Kansas was close. It felt like we are more of a unit. Everyone contributed big plays all over the stat sheet.

3. JC got some swagger back last night. Love it.

4. Jamal played with a ton of heart. Much smarter. More in control. More confidence.

5. It's beginning to look like the FF is gonna be a weapon. Home court advantage feels a lot more like an advantage than it did in the BC.

6. Theo John is fun as heck. Between him and Morrow, teams are less thrilled to get in the lane. Best center combo in a long time.

7. Hausers gonna Hausers. I hate to use "blue collar efforts" because that seems to imply they make up for talent with hustle--clearly both are exceptionally talented--but when Markus was struggling in the 1h, those to just found ways to get buckets. They have a drive that we haven't had in the last 5 years that makes them stoppers on d and guys that get a basket when we most desparately need it. Yeoman's work.

8. Wojo has taken a big step forward. Adjustments. Defense. It'shappening.gif. Credit where credit is due: he's filled the cupboard and now baking the cake--and it is a fun one. This run is a good one to point recruits to and say "this is the style we play and it'll showcase you if you buy in."

9. Things feel right in the world. I missed this feeling when watching Marquette play and this may be one of my favorite groups of men to see play like this. Tip of the cap to those to had more RTP faith than me.

[StillWarriors]

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

He made a sweet block immediately after the bad TO that must have spared him the hook. Was really happy for him to have a solid game and see some shots fall. He does seem to have butter fingers at times lately, which leads to some of his TOs. Strange. Crazy how that stuff seems to happen when someone loses confidence. Hopefully he got some back last night.

[jsglow]

I want to comment on 3 guys who all had perhaps their best games of the season.  Theo was an absolute monster at the rim.  And Markus correctly indicated that perhaps no player had grown more from last year.  After a really rough outing against North Dakota, that's the Chartouny we need this year.  Ran the offense with confidence and even nailed a shot or two.  Lastly, instead of thinking about where his mid-major landing spot might be, Cain decided to put his nose to the grindstone and work.  He was critical to last night's success against a very quick team.  I'm thrilled he saw success and earned Wojo's confidence playing meaningful minutes in crunch time.

I didn't want to lose all that in the aftermath of a historic performance.

[thekahoona]

I like watching Joey finding his groove a little bit more in each game. You can see his confidence building.

[GGGG]

What I also liked about this game is that it showed that MU can win multiple ways.  A grind it out game v. UW a couple weeks ago.  And a faster paced, more high scoring game last night.  Wojo can be more versatile with the guys he has.

[WarriorFan]

Joey - made some serious buckets when it looked to me like Buffalo was about to open up a serious lead.  He's done this several times this year - with very timely buckets.

Joe C - Wojo's message to him at the half must have been "Shoot the forking ball" - and he did, with confidence.  I actually think he's a better shooter about 3 feet behind the line than with toes on the line.

Cain - we played better when he was in the game.  He didn't actually do a lot on offense, but his defense was a level better than the other guys his size

Sacar - sacrificed his scoring for the team by taking tough and tiring defensive assignments.

Theo and Markus and Sam had pretty good games too.

[HammerScreen]

1. Game plan was great early: use the Sam mismatch to get easy looks. Kept us in it early with Markus struggling.

2. Absolutely loved the effort tonight. We kept our resolve early down 9-10 and hustled constantly.

3. Theo was a monster tonight. Very nice defensive awareness, a few of those blocks were due to him leaving his man and attacking the drive

4. Cain wasn't flawless but he did what he needed to. It's gotta be tough going from garbage minutes to big minutes in a big game. I appreciated his performance tonight.

5. The pull up 3 from Joe was a ballsy shot, glad it went in. The confidence surprised me

6. Markus. Not much else to say. He's added a shot to his arsenal every year. I think this year is the shallow bank on the drive. Weird angle, tough shot