Wrapping up VillanovaWritten by: Todd RosiakPhiladelphia -- Growth.
The Marquette Golden Eagles displayed it in losing on the road at Notre Dame by making a comeback late in the second half and almost stealing the game away.
They displayed it again on Monday by withstanding the runs Villanova threw at them early and then responding with their own, including the game-turning 16-4 blitz that sapped whatever life the Wildcats had left out of them.
The difference, according to Dominic James, was simple.
"Defense," he said. "That was our No. 1 focus coming out of the locker room in the second half, just getting the stops on 'D'. And when we did that, our offense started coming, and we started getting easier baskets and easier looks on the offensive end."
Indeed, after giving up 58.3% shooting in the first half, the Golden Eagles clamped down, allowing Villanova to shoot only 41.2% in the final 20 minutes and to just two field goals over a span of more than 7 minutes down the stretch.
"The sign that they're really growing is we struggled scoring for a long stretch in the first half but we never stopped competing hard on the defensive end," Crean said. "We were having trouble getting the ball to the rim. Some were shots we'd like to take back, but for the most part we just weren't getting that next pass that would get us that high-percentage layup or alley score.
"But we just stayed with it. They kept defending, we never let the runs get out of control with what they did, and our guys felt at halftime that they were going to come back and win. Looking around, I get a lot of confidence from these guys. And they're playing with it."
"This was a very big game," said James. "I know that sounds cliche, but it applies for us. We're going out there, taking it game by game. We can't look into the future. Nothing's a given, and that's how we're looking at the whole process."
Crean said the difference in the second half was the talking improved.
"We communicated better," Crean said. "There were certain things we wanted to do on certain pick-and-rolls. They run the pick-and-roll from the side, the slot and from the high area. We had to be locked in because of how good they are at the pick-and-roll. A couple times early on we weren't as good as we needed to be with that communication, and that's where the big men have to come in and be able to make the calls based on what we're going to do.
"It was not a game where we had to go over 20 plays, but we did have to go over some coverages, and in a one-day turnaround that's really hard. But we got better at that as the game went on."
"It's not me getting on everybody in a timeout saying, 'We've got to talk, we've got to talk.' It's them. There was one time out that I thought we were going to have three fights in there. I just stood back and smiled. It felt good because they're holding each other accountable, and that is, by far, the best thing a team can have."
-- MU forced 23 turnovers for the third straight game. Doing it against Villanova was an accomplishment, though, considering the Wildcats' strength lies in their guards as well.
-- The offensive rebounding was non-existent in the first half for MU. The Golden Eagles didn't grab their first until 1:37 remained, and although they finished with 10 they still lost the rebounding battle to a team they probably should have beaten in that category.
"Our blocking out has got to get shored up, especially with our guards," said Crean. "We weren't nearly as good, but they know it. There's not a situation now where guys are hanging their heads. They take it, accept it and say they're going to do better. That's where we're really maturing -- not only do they say it, they do it."
-- Beating Villanova takes some of the pressure off MU in its final two Big East games.
By no means will it take either lightly, beginning Saturday at home against Georgetown, but having added one more high-quality road victory beforehand was huge.
Now the Golden Eagles can head into both looking to add to their school record for Big East victories, which is now 11 and counting.
"We'll just get ourselves prepared to play against one of the best teams in the country," Crean said, referring to the rest of the week ahead. "We know it's our last Saturday home game, we know it's been sold out for a long time. I would imagine that it should be as loud a crowd as we've ever had at the Bradley Center in our nine years of being at Marquette. We know we're playing an outstanding team that's been outstanding for a long time, but our guys are going to be excited to play, I know that."
-- Lazar Hayward had a quiet 15 points and nine rebounds. His second half was big, though, and he did wind up knocking down two more three-pointers.
-- Who'd have thought that Trevor Mbakwe's lone contribution would be to knock down a pair of free throws? That's a good sign for MU, since he's already showing a knack for getting to the charity stripe.
-- Great, great game for James, who needed some positivity after struggling through nagging injuries for much of the Big East season.
"The ankle made me forget about my wrist," he said. "It's to the point where I'm getting so frustrated you get tears in your eyes. But I just try to go out there, forget about and focus on defense, on the things I know I can do instead of the things I have to go above and beyond to try and do.
"So I focused on the little things, and everything else came."
-- From the old habits die hard department: the box scores handed out during the first half and at halftime listed MU as the Warriors. It was changed to the Golden Eagles by the end of the game, however.
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