The Marquette Golden Eagles defeated the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 72-64, on National Marquette Day and Senior Day. This was also their 25th home win. This pretty much sums up my feelings for the game.
Here are highlights for Senior Day and seniors Junior Cadougan and Trent Lockett.
Marquette gets back on track with an 84-80 win over LSU.
Marquette looked very good in the first half, leading by as many as 21 points. The second half was a different story. They went cold at the start, letting LSU tie the game. The Golden Eagles would rally to eventually beat them by four points.
Davante Gardener scored a season high 19 points including making six consecutive free throws. Junior Cadougan and Vander Blue each scored 17 points.
This was Todd Mayo’s first game back for Marquette after being ruled academically ineligible for the first semester. He play a total of 12 minutes and missed his four shot attempts. Mayo said his 10-game layoff was “the hardest thing I’ve done in my life. I didn’t know how I was going to get through it.”
Marquette still needs some work defending the perimeter. LSU had many three point shots including six made by guard Andre Stringer. They still need to work on consistency if they want to compete in the Big East.
The Golden Eagles take on North Carolina Central next Saturday before heading into Big East play.
Marquette fell to UW-Green Bay 49-47.
Jamil Wilson scored 16 points off the bench and Junior Cadougan had eight points and six assists.
UW-Green Bay led by nine points halfway through the first when the Golden Eagles went on a 10-0 run to go on top and led 31-29 going into the half. Both teams were very cold during the second half. Marquette only shot 27.3 percent from the floor. Marquette had a chance to tie on free throws from Vander Blue but he missed the front end of a 1-and-1.
There is some definite work for the Golden Eagles. They lack consistency which is very dangerous. The players that usually put up points were very cold in this game. I would definitely say this is a rebuilding year for head coach Buzz Williams and hope that the next game goes a lot better than this one.
On Saturday, Marquette along with the six other Big East schools announced they would be leaving the conference to form their own basketball first conference.
The presidents of the seven schools said in a statement:
“Earlier today we voted unanimously to pursue an orderly evolution to a foundation of basketball schools that honors the history and tradition on which the Big East was established. Under the context of conference realignment, we believe pursuing a new basketball framework that builds on this tradition of excellence and competition is the best way forward.”
There has been no time table for the move although the Big East does require conference members to give 27 months notice but if they vote to leave as a group, the Big East will allow them to leave as a group without paying the exit fees.
I’ll keep tabs on this story as we get more details. This is probably the best option for the non-football schools.
The Marquette Golden Eagles fell to the Florida Gators, 82-49.
Vander Blue scored a game high of 20 points but was the only player to score in double digits.
Marquette looked very flat during the game and failed to get shots to drop. In the first half, Marquette went cold at the 6:53 mark and got shut out in the second half at the 4:53 mark to get blown out.
Florida had six players scoring in double figures and dominated the floor.
Hopefully Marquette can bounce back from this loss in the next game.
Junior Jamil Wilson had another great game for Marquette as they defeated Maryland-Baltimore County, 79-46. He scored 15 points and has shot 82.4 percent in the last two games.
Head coach Buzz Williams says,
“[Wilson's] a good player. When his talent and heart are on the same page, he’s really, really good. When he’s relying strictly on his talent, then that’s what he looks like. He just looks like a really good athlete that doesn’t play hard enough to win. But when his heart and his talent are on the same page, he’s really good. Maybe as good as any that we’ve had at that spot as his career unfolds.
“But he’s got to play really hard. When he plays really hard, then he can be like some of his predecessors. When he doesn’t play hard, he’s not any good.”
Davante Gardener had 13 points in the game and Jake Thomas added 12 points. Vander Blue did not play in this game due to a knee injury he sustained in the game against USC in Maui.
The first half of the game was very unimpressive. Both teams were not shooting well and went to the locker room with the Golden Eagles leading 28-24.
With 16:52 remaining, Marquette trailed UMBC 31-30 then they went on a 37-5 run with most points coming from the paint. The Golden Eagles continued to dominate the second half by scoring 10 straight baskets, with the 10th being a 3-pointer from Jake Thomas.
Marquette takes on Florida in the SEC/Big East Challenge on Thursday at 8 pm on ESPN2.
The Marquette Golden Eagles looked good again in their win over USC, 72-64, on Wednesday.
Jamil Wilson had one of his best games. He scored 19 points and brought a lot of energy to the floor. Davante Gardner added 12 points, Junior Cadougan had 11 points and Chris Otule scored 10 points for Marquette.
The closest USC came within one point with 14 minutes left on the clock but Wilson started a nine point run to pull away.
The Golden Eagles finished fifth in the Maui Invitational, only losing a heartbreaking game to Butler.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Marquette rebounded from their loss to Butler by beating Mississippi State, 89-62 on Tuesday in Maui.
The Golden Eagles seemed to be looking forward in this game. They came out with lots of energy and ended up with 14 steals, eight blocked shots and four players in double figures. Another thing that may have helped Marquette is that Mississippi State only had eight active players on their bench due to suspensions and injuries.
Vander Blue scored 18 points while Davante Gardener contributed 15 points and 12 rebounds. Trent Lockett had 13 points and Jamil Wilson made 11 points.
These last two games have seen Vander Blue take a huge step up from last year. He has never been a perimeter shooter but in the last two games he is 5 of 8 beyond the arc. Davante Gardener has also become one of Marquette’s best all around players. In his playing time against Mississippi State, he was 7 of 14 shooting for 15 points and collected a game-high 12 rebounds.
Next up for the Golden Eagles is USC today at 4 pm CST in Maui on ESPN2.
Marquette lost to Butler, 72-71, on a 3-point shot from Butler’s Rotnei Clark in Maui on Monday.
Marquette’s Andrew Thomas hit a putback layup and a free throw with 30.9 seconds left on the clock to go up by three points. Junior Cadougan was fouled with nine seconds left on the clock but failed to make the winning free throw for the Golden Eagles.
Junior guard Vander Blue scored 21 points while sophomore Juan Anderson, who battled foul trouble, scored five points with six rebounds, three steals, two assists, and one block.
Marquette continues playing in Maui today at 1:30 pm CST against Mississippi State. Let’s hope we see a better game than yesterday.
Marquette made a last ditch effort last night to beat Southeastern Louisiana 64-53. Davante Gardener scored 18 points and Chris Otule scored 10 points.
Southeastern Louisiana was within two points in the last six minutes to go in the last half. Each team shot free throws then Gardener made a layup to put the Golden Eagles up 57-51 with just over three minutes to go. Trent Lockett made two free throws with just over two minutes on the clock then the Marquette defense held off the Lions to win.
Hopefully Marquette can use the rest of the week to regroup and come up with a plan for when they play Butler on Monday as part of the Maui Invitational.
