WKU

[tower912]

Yes.   I should have said winner of the conference tourney after the top 2 seeds were upset by other teams.   

[Skatastrophy]

WVU's mascot is intimidating like Bluteaux was

[1SE]

WVU's mascot is intimidating like Bluteaux was

Big Red is the love spawn of Clifford and Grimace.

[GoldenEagles03]

WKU didn't lose a game by more thann10 points all season.

They are actually good. Leading scorer is from Milwaukee too. Cool little fact.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

WKU didn't lose a game by more thann10 points all season.

They are actually good. Leading scorer is from Milwaukee too. Cool little fact.

They have a profile of a decent buy game. If that's "actually good," than fine.

But Marquette should handle them easy.

[tower912]

Cool little fact.  They lost their last four regular season games to drop to .500 and third place in their conference.  The top two teams got upset by other teams.   Their biggest OOC opponent was Wichita State, who they lost to.
   Yes, they get up and down the floor and their metrics aren't atrocious.  MU will beat them.

[muwarrior69]

Game time 2/1 pm ET/CT, TBS on Friday.

[romey]

Anyone know where their Milwaukee guy (Don McHenry) played HS ball?  On the roster the bio only shows MKE as his birthplace, he played 1 year at Hawaii Hilo and one year at WKU, no HS info.

[Pakuni]

WKU didn't lose a game by more thann10 points all season.

They are actually good. Leading scorer is from Milwaukee too. Cool little fact.

Those losses have been to (with KenPom ranking):

Wichita State (155)
Canisius (274)
UNC-Asheville (164)
Sam Houston State twice (142)
New Mexico State (290)
Texas-El Paso (179)
Middle Tennessee State (282)
Louisiana Tech (95)
Florida International (284)
Liberty (138)

They played zero Quad 1 games all year and only one Quad 2 game.
Suffice to say, they haven't seen an opponent like Marquette.

[dgies9156]

Yeah first year head coach. Someone said it earlier, but this would be the worst loss in Marquette tournament history.

Not even close.

I've said this before: The worst loss in Marquette Basketball history will forever be the Miami of Ohio loss in 1978. Period. Unless we lose to a 16 seed as defending national champions, nothing comes close to that loss. It was the most debilitating loss in Marquette history and effectively ended our days as one of the nation's top college basketball programs.

If Miami of Ohio in 1978 taught us anything, it's that you NEVER, EVER, EVER take an opponent for granted. You don't worry about "down the road" and Florida, Duke or Kentucky until you beat the Hilltoppers. You go for the kill as soon as you can and hope the margin is so big John Lucas gets 10 points!

[MU82]

The more you say this, the funnier it gets.

Not sure if he got that clever line from Gold Brick, Pile-of-Dung Stevie or Wojo-Dukiet-Nagle-Lipe.

[Pakuni]

Not even close.

I've said this before: The worst loss in Marquette Basketball history will forever be the Miami of Ohio loss in 1978. Period. Unless we lose to a 16 seed as defending national champions, nothing comes close to that loss. It was the most debilitating loss in Marquette history and effectively ended our days as one of the nation's top college basketball programs.

If Miami of Ohio in 1978 taught us anything, it's that you NEVER, EVER, EVER take an opponent for granted. You don't worry about "down the road" and Florida, Duke or Kentucky until you beat the Hilltoppers. You go for the kill as soon as you can and hope the margin is so big John Lucas gets 10 points!

Miami of Ohio in 1978 was a top 20 team.
Western Kentucky in 2024 isn't a top 120 team.

[Dr. Blackheart]

https://104thescore.com/2024/03/17/video-coach-steve-lutz-don-mchenry-talk-marquette-draw-in-ncaa-tournament/

[GoldenEagles03]

They have a profile of a decent buy game. If that's "actually good," than fine.

But Marquette should handle them easy.

Agreed. They just had an impressive season. Didn't play a whole lot of competition though.

[tower912]

I worried slightly about Vermont a year ago.  I worry less about WKU.

[muwarrior69]

Cool little fact.  They lost their last four regular season games to drop to .500 and third place in their conference.  The top two teams got upset by other teams.   Their biggest OOC opponent was Wichita State, who they lost to.
   Yes, they get up and down the floor and their metrics aren't atrocious.  MU will beat them.

I am sure all the Purdue fans thought the same thing about Fairleigh Dickinson.

[dgies9156]

Miami of Ohio in 1978 was a top 20 team.
Western Kentucky in 2024 isn't a top 120 team.

Defending National Champion means something! Defending National Champions who returned four of their five starters do not lose to the Miamis of Ohio.

Period. Statistics don't matter in cases like this!

I'm guessing you may not have been born yet, but that loss was more traumatic than anything else that happened in the last 60 years or so. The closest was a mid-1980s North Carolina game in Milwaukee where Coach Majerus was trying to re-assert the program. We led most of the game but lost in the last few minutes. Or the March 1969 game against Purdue (and Rick Mount), where we were one free throw away from the Final Four (who the hell says free throws don't matter?).

We all have high hopes for this team. I'm truly expecting wonderful things this year. But the trauma associated with the Miami of Ohio loss set the program back for decades. The lesson is: this was so bad, it can never happen again! I don't expect it will and we all will be massively disappointed if, in the unlikely event we lose. But it won't be anything like the Miami of Ohio loss. That loss still stings 45 years later.

[tower912]

I am sure all the Purdue fans thought the same thing about Fairleigh Dickinson.

Yes, and?

[GoldenEagles03]

Kam was not his usually goofy self in this interview. He was 100% business. Hopefully that means he is locked in! Says he is incredibly motivated.

https://youtu.be/R1LDTQtAUMQ?si=8LmAV-cx_wn74SPq

[muwarrior69]

Yes, and?

Strange thing do happen during the tournament and as dgies said never underestimate your opponent.

[tower912]

I am not underestimating WKU.  I do not fear them.   

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

And what if Scoopers are underestimating an opponent?

[TallTitan34]

And what if Scoopers are underestimating an opponent?

I'm worried I'm underestimating WKU and won't bring all my EGBs on Friday.

[Pakuni]

Yes, and?

Purdue lost because their fans were looking past FDU.

[Viper]

Miami of Ohio in 1978 was a top 20 team.
Western Kentucky in 2024 isn't a top 120 team.

but in '78 Marquette was defending national champs and a 1-seed. Butch Lee was a 1st team All American. A loss on Friday would not equal the loss in '78.Not even close.