Last 12

[Miss Katie’s]

Good catch - I must've blocked that travesty from my memory.  😊

Unfortunately, that appearance in the semis has been the exception rather than the norm.

Definitely the exception unfortunately.  Let's fix that this year as you said!

And that 2019 travesty is best forgotten lol 😂

[MU90620]

What I don't get is that Sean Miller obviously had seen Marquette numerous times and has people on his staff whose job it is to break down video. So kudos for him for his halftime adjustments ... but it seems odd that he wouldn't have been prepared for what Marquette did in the first half.

So what's the right strategy? Daring Kolek to score -- which he did at will in the first half -- or taking away Kolek scoring at the risk of leaving Kam Jones open? Kam hits a couple more 3s, and we're patting ourselves on the back for our heroes' gritty road win. Indeed, excellent 3-point shooting in the second half of several games propelled us to quite a few wins this season, including UConn. We didn't even need excellent 3-point shooting yesterday, just not bad shooting. We couldn't hit a freakin' shot, and yet we lost by only 4 points on the road against a soon-to-be top-10 team.

I predicted a 92-85 MU win. We were on track at halftime, up 48-44. We make 3 or 4 wide-open 3s in the second half instead of 1 and O-Max makes that layup, we're pretty close. Now, that didn't happen and I'm not trying to re-write history. I'm just stating why I'm not too concerned about the opponents' strategy against us. The games are still winnable no matter what their plans are.

I agree with this. I personally think Miller's halftime adjustments are being a little overblown. His plan based on film, like everyone else's, was to turn Kolek into a scorer not a distributor. Well, Kolek torpedoed that plan.

His adjustment was to go back to playing straight up. In my personal opinion, it was only successful because we missed shots we normally make. I honestly believe Xavier was fortunate yesterday. If we shot like that in the second half of our last 4 games we most likely would have gone 1-3 in that stretch instead of 4-0.

[jfp61]

I agree with this. I personally think Miller's halftime adjustments are being a little overblown. His plan based on film, like everyone else's, was to turn Kolek into a scorer not a distributor. Well, Kolek torpedoed that plan.

His adjustment was to go back to playing straight up. In my personal opinion, it was only successful because we missed shots we normally make. I honestly believe Xavier was fortunate yesterday. If we shot like that in the second half of our last 4 games we most likely would have gone 1-3 in that stretch instead of 4-0.

Yep. Xavier went back to playing normal Marquette shot 1-12 from three. End of story. 11-31 from the field. MU's D was fine too that half, 12-30 from the field only for X, just happened to go 3-9 from three. MU even got more O boards than them.

[BLWarrior91]

Agreed.  We make just one of those open threes and O-Max makes that layup and we win.

Kam got going too early.  He went ice cold in the second half.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

If you go game by game as of today we will be favored in 10 of the 12 remaining games. I think we will drop a game we shouldn't (traditionally its @DPL) and end up 9-3

[Daniel]

Agreed.  We make just one of those open threes and O-Max makes that layup and we win.

Kam got going too early.  He went ice cold in the second half.

The good thing is Shaka's offensive system is getting our shooters lots of open looks. So, we need the shooters to make those shots and against X we did not down the stretch. 

[Goose]

IMO, MU is much better team than the bottom half of the BE. It would take a very poor
performance to have more than one mishap against those teams. I think they probably win 4-5 out of 10 against X, UConn and Creighton which is a big uptick over last season.

If I had to bet money, my pick is 9-3 the rest of the way. If I had to pick over/under 9, reluctantly would pass or go under.

[Uncle Rico]

12-0 or I think that puts Shaka on the hot seat

[We R Final Four]

Without question. There isn't a team in the Big East that would be favored on our court right now.

If X comes into the Fiserv with 0 or 1 losses in conference........we will be favored? Without question?

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

If X comes into the Fiserv with 0 or 1 losses in conference........we will be favored? Without question?

Yes unless we drop off between now and then

[We R Final Four]

Yes unless we drop off between now and then

Thanks....was asking brew since he made the statement.

Yeah....thats a big unless. Its easy to say we will be favored unless we aren't. You can define "drop off" in several ways.
If we are in 4th or 5th place....and X is in first....I dont think we will be favored at home.

[MU82]

12-0 or I think that puts Shaka on the hot seat

I'm guessing his ride has heated seats. Maybe even a heated steering wheel.

[Uncle Rico]

I'm guessing his ride has heated seats. Maybe even a heated steering wheel.

Surprised it hasn't been stolen

[MU82]

Surprised it hasn't been stolen

Maybe it was. Does he drive a Telluride?

[We R Final Four]

Maybe it was. Does he drive a Telluride?

Haha—check the scanner!

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Thanks....was asking brew since he made the statement.

Yeah....thats a big unless. Its easy to say we will be favored unless we aren't. You can define "drop off" in several ways.
If we are in 4th or 5th place....and X is in first....I dont think we will be favored at home.

Lines are pretty much set by KenPom these days. We are above X in KenPom. Drop-off is defined as falling about 30 spots in KenPom between now and then.

To give context, X is currently a 1 point favorite against #55 Seton Hall. Marquette is currently #12.

[wisblue]

I'm thinking 8-4 the rest of the way would be good, mainly because I expect a young team to wear down some during the long season. Hopefully there won't be a collapse similar to last year or some other years in recent MU history.

[PointWarrior]

8-4 -is the floor..   Anything less and the Marquette Feb collapse is alive...

[Shooter McGavin]

9-3

@UConn
@DePaul
@Creighton

At DePaul huh?  God I hope not.  I'm not saying that is a cake walk but it definitely should be an expected win.  I suppose that's why they play the games.  DePaul got us last year there.  I was court side for it.  It was an ugly game.

[brewcity77]

If X comes into the Fiserv with 0 or 1 losses in conference........we will be favored? Without question?

As I said, there isn't a team in the Big East that would be favored on our court right now.

Until the next Xavier game, we are favored in 6/7. If we go 4-3 or better, I think we'll still be favored. In that same span, X is expected to go 5-2. If we go 2-5 and they go 7-0, or if we have a major injury, that could change. But we're currently favored in every home game, so when I say "lose one we aren't supposed to lose" the next X game qualifies.

[wisblue]

8-4 -is the floor..   Anything less and the Marquette Feb collapse is alive...

8-4 is the Pomeroy projection, so I see it as more of a median than a floor.

Past experience should teach us  that, over the course of a 4 month college basketball season, teams (not just MU) will likely go through some ups and downs. Some of those road games against teams in the bottom half of the league are going to be tougher than they look on paper.

[JakeBarnes]

At DePaul huh?  God I hope not.  I'm not saying that is a cake walk but it definitely should be an expected win.  I suppose that's why they play the games.  DePaul got us last year there.  I was court side for it.  It was an ugly game.

It sucked. Expecting better results this go-around. See you there on the 28th?

[GoldenEagles03]

8-4 is the Pomeroy projection, so I see it as more of a median than a floor.

Past experience should teach us  that, over the course of a 4 month college basketball season, teams (not just MU) will likely go through some ups and downs. Some of those road games against teams in the bottom half of the league are going to be tougher than they look on paper.

Yup.  I'd be surprised if Marquette didn't lose a head scratcher at some point, typically every team does.  But then again I've been surprised by this whole season, so who knows.

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

10-2.

I think they win 2 this week. Then there are 3 straight home games against middle to bottom teams (DePaul will be a home game--lots of nice seats available still for that game, so make it so). @Uconn and @creighton are the two I think might be the losses for me. But see a pathway for those to be wins too. Still think we take X at home.

I've seen this movie before.

With how they're playing right now, hard to see them doing worse than 8-4 with @UCONN, @CRE,  v. X  the most likely with another loss sprinkled in elsewhere.  22-9 heading into the BET playing solely for seeding, and perhaps finally making some noise in NYC, would be awful nice.

[Scoop Snoop]

Yup.  I'd be surprised if Marquette didn't lose a head scratcher at some point, typically every team does.  But then again I've been surprised by this whole season, so who knows.

If it's Georgetown in DC, a game that I will be at, you will find my name on the front page of the Washington Post with the heading "Marquette fan taken into custody and undergoing psychiatric evaluation after totally freaking out at the Capitol One Center."