Season's Path Decided in the Next Few Weeks

[GoldenEagles03]

Goes without saying that the next game is the most important game, but the path of this season will start to take it's shape, starting tomorrow.

Polls and Bracket Predictions don't mean anything right now, but they can at least give you an idea of where you fit in.  Right now Lunardi has Marquette as a Last Four Team In the Tournament as an 11 seed Play In Game.  Doesn't mean anything, but it tells us that this team has a shot to make the Tournament and that is something I'm sure we are all happy with.

A loss isn't the end of anything, but beating UConn pushes us a little further in the right direction and gives us a little more breathing room for mistakes moving forward. For the next few weeks, each week will feel like a battle of its own.  Find a way to survive each week! It is exciting to have meaningful basketball back and this is a major opportunity against UConn tomorrow.  Go Marquette!

[Tha Hound]

I also think were a Final Four Team. Great minds

[rocky_warrior]

/wet blanket alert

UConn is the type of team we struggle with.  The things we do well, they generally do better.  Except for offensive rebounds -we're awful and they're really good.

Tempo is all we got.  Run them around and hope it works.

[We R Final Four]

UCONN is an absolute nightmare matchup for  us. I don’t see anyway we keep this close.
Hope to be completely wrong tomorrow night.

[BM1090]

If Sanogo is out I don’t think it’s a bad matchup. They struggle against pressure and are an inconsistent shooting team. If they are hot we’ll have trouble but if they are bad to average we should be in the game with a chance to win.

[GoldenEagles03]

/wet blanket alert

UConn is the type of team we struggle with.  The things we do well, they generally do better.  Except for offensive rebounds -we're awful and they're really good.

Tempo is all we got.  Run them around and hope it works.

I don't think tempo is all we got. We can cause problems for them. Their leading scorer and playmaker RJ Cole is shooting 37% from the field. We have shot blockers and bigs that create issues for anyone defensively. We will need to hit shots, but with the emergence of Greg it gives us a much better chance.

Hit open shots at a better rate and don't turn the ball over and we'll have our shot to win it. Hopefully the few guys who were around last year remember the 18 point halftime lead that we blew in Milwaukee last year against them and use it as motivation.

[GoldenEagles03]

If Sanogo is out I don’t think it’s a bad matchup. They struggle against pressure and are an inconsistent shooting team. If they are hot we’ll have trouble but if they are bad to average we should be in the game with a chance to win.

Even if he plays it's far from a guarantee.  He doesn't pass out of the post and will certainly be out of shape a bit after the long layoff. Even if he plays he will need his rest.

Never underestimate life on the road in the Big East.

[panda]

If Sanogo is out I don’t think it’s a bad matchup. They struggle against pressure and are an inconsistent shooting team. If they are hot we’ll have trouble but if they are bad to average we should be in the game with a chance to win.

If Adama doesn’t play, it will be like facing Illinois without Cockburn. UConn is complete top to bottom, but they really lack an alpha when he’s not on the floor.

[rocky_warrior]

Their leading scorer and playmaker RJ Cole is shooting 37% from the field.

He's actually not a great 2 or 3pt threat.  But he's pretty good at getting to the free throw line, and doing his damage from there.  So, some home cooking?  Maybe we have that for us too.

[GoldenEagles03]

He's actually not a great 2 or 3pt threat.  But he's pretty good at getting to the free throw line, and doing his damage from there.  So, some home cooking?  Maybe we have that for us too.

I'm not worried about one guy with this team. It's the fact that they have a number of guys who can get going.  Honestly if Sanogo plays it might slow the game down for us defensively in the half court to keep the game within reach late.

I picked UConn to win fairly easily, but I actually feel pretty good about this one(which could be a bad thing). We have the roster make up to mirror any punch they throw. We just gotta find a way to throw the last punch.

[rocky_warrior]

We have the roster make up to mirror any punch they throw. We just gotta find a way to throw the last punch.

I hope so!  But see the /wet blanket alert

[GoldenEagles03]

I hope so!  But see the /wet blanket alert

Noted.

[MU82]

I don't think tempo is all we got. We can cause problems for them. Their leading scorer and playmaker RJ Cole is shooting 37% from the field. We have shot blockers and bigs that create issues for anyone defensively. We will need to hit shots, but with the emergence of Greg it gives us a much better chance.

Hit open shots at a better rate and don't turn the ball over and we'll have our shot to win it. Hopefully the few guys who were around last year remember the 18 point halftime lead that we blew in Milwaukee last year against them and use it as motivation.

Aside from me thinking that last year's loss will have absolutely nothing to do with tomorrow's game, I like the optimism you're showing and I do think we can win this one if we shoot well and they don't. Which probably will be a common theme this season, regardless of opponent.

[GoldenEagles03]

If Sanogo is out I don’t think it’s a bad matchup. They struggle against pressure and are an inconsistent shooting team. If they are hot we’ll have trouble but if they are bad to average we should be in the game with a chance to win.

Per David Borges (Writer for UConn Men's Basketball)
"Adama Sanogo participated fully in practice today. Depending on how he feels tomorrow, could play "limited minutes" against Marquette tomorrow night."

[Newsdreams]

Aside from me thinking that last year's loss will have absolutely nothing to do with tomorrow's game, I like the optimism you're showing and I do think we can win this one if we shoot well and they don't. Which probably will be a common theme this season, regardless of opponent.

If we score at least one more point than them we'll win

[MUCam]

If we score at least one more point than them we'll win

That’s a very simplistic statement. There are a lot of things that go into winning, such as rebounding. In my opinion, rebounding will be a key. We need to out-rebound them. If we grab at least one more rebound than them we’ll out-rebound them!

[BobWildLoyalist]

It is fairly obvious that Jan and Feb dictate March. So the next few weeks will decide the fate of the following few weeks. Buckle up!

[NCMUFan]

I expect the same splash we made when Marquette played UCONN for our entry in the Big East and Novak rained 3's.

[MU82]

These next few weeks will be the most important part of the season ... until the few weeks after that.

I just hope we're actually playing games in all these few weekses!

[oilcan]

NCMUFan has a great memory. UConn was 11-0 and ranked # 2. Steve Novak scored 41 points and Marquette won 94-79

[Galway Eagle]

NCMUFan has a great memory. UConn was 11-0 and ranked # 2. Steve Novak scored 41 points and Marquette won 94-79

That games brought up like 100x a year on here, it's harder to forget about it if you follow this board.

[MU82]

That games brought up like 100x a year on here, it's harder to forget about it if you follow this board.

Wait ... who's Steve Novak?

[Galway Eagle]

Wait ... who's Steve Novak?

Tall Andrew Rowsey but same defense.

[MU82]

Tall Andrew Rowsey but same defense.

Novak at least tried to play D most of the time.

I enjoyed watching AR play offense, but he might be the worst defender I've ever seen at Marquette.

[cheebs09]

That games brought up like 100x a year on here, it's harder to forget about it if you follow this board.

Rumor has it he made a game-winner against Notre Dane once.