Sweep Wright

[Jay Bee]

1.   Making nearly every ft helps the old eFG%.       

Wat

[Dish]

I expected nothing out of this year. A couple games under .500 in the Big East would have been gratifying.

Now I'm booking hotels in Pittsburgh/Buffalo/Indy for mid March. What a time to be an MU fan.

[BallBoy]

1 Lead Change and 1 Tie - happened at the 20 Minute mark of the first half. MU lead start to finish.

After that point, the closet Nova was to Marquette was 3 points which happened at the first made basket and in the second half.

[DJO's Jaw]

1.   Making nearly every ft helps the old eFG%.       

Nice? Yes. But FT shooting doesn't affect eFG% at all. TS% is the one that accounts for FTs in addition to 2PT and 3PT FG%.

[MuggsyB]

I never want to hear "the student section sucks" in the middle of January again.

Big props to the students tonight.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

I never want to hear "the student section sucks" in the middle of January again.

+100000

[DoctorV]

1.   Making nearly every ft helps the old eFG%.       
2.   Villanova making runs was inevitable.    Never felt it was weathered completely until the final buzzer.   A horror movie baddie who won't die.       
3.   OMax was really good against Gillespie early.  Big momentum play, too.   
4.   Shaka will ride a hot line up.    He was shuffling in and out the second half trying to find one.   
5.    Rebounding was awesome for a half.    A little bit of a reversion in the second half.   
6.   Morsell able to play some bully ball when nothing else was happening.    Stepped up after some spotty play.    Senior leadership.   8 point run.  Fouling out was awkward.   
7.  I expect Greg to hit every 3.    A little slump the last couple of games.  Made the ft's he needed.     
8.  Not pretty.   Don't care.    Glorious.

Good summary, as always.

That said I think this game can be summarized in 2 points.

1- We swept the giant, its Villanova!

2- Its Shakas first season, and we are already becoming spoiled!

Let's all get lost in the fight, but don't forget that this isn't real, it's quite surreal.
Don't lose sight of where MU came from and how far it has come in a few short months.

It feels damn good, and there's still work to be done for this season

[JakeBarnes]

Don't really have much to say. Love this team. So much heart out there every game. Guys that sacrifice stats for results and fight together for every bit if ground.

This is what I've wanted Marquette basketball to be for quite some time.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Don't think it's been talked about yet but Marquette is an awful matchup for Villanova.

Have the length and the quickness to neutralize Moore and Gillespie, and they don't have a true low post big to give Marquette issues.

Man it sure is nice to switch every screen and not have to worry about a bad matchup.

[NinjaWes]

That sick block-outlet-transition 3 was a thing of beauty. The kind of thing you'd see on a highlight reel on TNT from the Association.

Kolek would've been SOG except for a few hiccups in the 2nd half. If he can continue to improve those sneaky layups near the bucket to keep the defense honest, with his handles and passing, it would make him an all-conference type of guard.

[jimmybutlerfanatic]

Joplin is the unsung hero for this team during this stretch (minus XU game).

He comes in for limited minutes hits some big shots, plays some decent D and then sits.

[CountryRoads]

Joplin is the unsung hero for this team during this stretch (minus XU game).

He comes in for limited minutes hits some big shots, plays some decent D and then sits.

Big jump coming next year for Joplin. He will average double figures next year.

[MU82]

Big jump coming next year for Joplin. He will average double figures next year.

Joplin and Kam are gonna be really good players.

[DoctorV]

Joplin is the unsung hero for this team during this stretch (minus XU game).

He comes in for limited minutes hits some big shots, plays some decent D and then sits.

I was very surprised he didn't not play several minutes in the second half.
Very surprised.
Shows how good of a relationship Shaka has with him.

My instinct tells me his ascent is coming before the season is over, when the conference schedule lightens he will have a few huge games

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

The students were awesome tonight. It was great to see

[mu.n8ball]

plucked from Twitter:
"It'd be arrogant to say we got the looks we wanted. We got some looks, but they're flying at us with length and they throw your timing off a little bit... They're always flying at you. Usually when you shoot like that, it's because the team's good defensively" -Wright on 3FG%

i really like this response giving credit to our defense. humble in defeat. It's so nice to have a defense again.

[TallTitan34]

Anyone have an update on the fan that got carried out behind the MU bench?  It didn't look good.

[MUDPT]

Anyone have an update on the fan that got carried out behind the MU bench?  It didn't look good.

Nope. No AED or chest compressions though, that I saw.

[duanewade]

More Mu praise/talk on the Big East After Dark with John Fanta.

https://youtu.be/SSC2VlmC22c

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

There was a great exchange between Kolek and Shaka in the first half. Kolek got called for a ticky tack foul and said something to the ref. I missed this but my buddy was watching and said that Shaka called him out saying something like "Tyler, don't be an pretty boy". Kolek responded back (missed what he said). Kolek proceeded to get a steal and took it coast to coast for a layup. Jogging back down the court he looked right at Shaka, gestured toward him, and I swear he said "Can I be an pretty boy now?" MU gets a stop and they push it to Kolek who nails an early shot clock trey. Jogging back Kolek gestures at Shaka again and says something like "What about now?" All of this was in a fun in ribbing back and forth kind of way.

Shaka was also red hot after Elliott got thrown to the ground on the Flagrant run. Was screaming at one of the refs and Nevada Smith had to step between them.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

We are the first team to sweep Nova in a season since Butler did it during the 16-17 season (their only other loss of the regular season, was the MU over #1 game). This is only the third time since the Catholic 7 split that a team has swept Nova with the first time being when Creighton gave Nova their only two conference losses of the 13-14 season.

[MarquetteFan94]

Students were awesome tonight. Credit them for getting out in some crummy weather at 9:00 on a Wednesday .

If you win, they will come...

Absolutely. The attendance in the 200 level was embarrassing.

[MUDPT]

There was a great exchange between Kolek and Shaka in the first half. Kolek got called for a ticky tack foul and said something to the ref. I missed this but my buddy was watching and said that Shaka called him out saying something like "Tyler, don't be an pretty boy". Kolek responded back (missed what he said). Kolek proceeded to get a steal and took it coast to coast for a layup. Jogging back down the court he looked right at Shaka, gestured toward him, and I swear he said "Can I be an pretty boy now?" MU gets a stop and they push it to Kolek who nails an early shot clock trey. Jogging back Kolek gestures at Shaka again and says something like "What about now?" All of this was in a fun in ribbing back and forth kind of way.

Shaka was also red hot after Elliott got thrown to the ground on the Flagrant run. Was screaming at one of the refs and Nevada Smith had to step between them.

Shaka said on the radio that he was mad that Tyler wasn't shooting an open shot.

[connie]

This team keeps getting better.  I'd say they are playing better than the sum of their parts but think the individual parts may have been underestimated. Happy to see that as we go through the second round of BE play we are not getting owned by just about everyone.  So much fun to watch this all develop.

[The Sultan]

Absolutely. The attendance in the 200 level was embarrassing.

Not noticeable at all on television. Sounded like an awesome crowd for a weeknight.