Marquette, who was tied for first place in the Conference last week has put themselves in a tough situation with their lack of wins on the road. So what do you do when you haven't played very well on the road? You come back home and beat the #8 ranked team in the country.
Whats at stake?
-Marquette holds the 2nd longest home winning streak in the country with 23 straight; longest among power conferences since Syracuse loss to Georgetown at home on Saturday.
-Joe Lunardi (Mr. Bracketology) has moved Marquette up and down from 4 to 6 seed projected in the tournament. A win against the Orange could make up for one of the bad losses on the road and keep them among the 3-5 range.
-The Golden Eagles had a steady spot at the top of the Big East. Now tied for second with some names like Syracuse and Louisville, as well as Notre Dame and Pitt right behind them makes me feel a bit less secure of a BYE come March. Marquette wants the Double BYE when it is time to head to New York for the Big East Tourney.
Keys for Marquette Offensively:
-Figure out how to break the zone that Georgetown, Louisville and Villanova both used against the Golden Eagles. They both used a 2-3 zone and dominated Marquette's offense. In order to get something going offensively, MU needs to penetrate the zone. Yes, it is fine to swing the ball around the perimeter. However, they have to look for paint touches and then the kick out if they want quality shots. I think all Marquette fans can agree that they would be fine with MR. AUTOMATIC, Davante Gardner, receiving the ball in the key and having the chance to go up with it or pass it off. We have not seen anyone on the Marquette squad that can consistently create their own shots. Therefore, breaking the 2-3 zone and getting the ball inside is imperative for Marquette's success.
-Get Vander Blue quality chances to score. Blue had a subpar game on Saturday. He did not make a lot of mistakes. He also did not do anything extraordinary. Overall average stat-line if he was a bench player, but this is the star player were talking about. It all goes back to breaking the zone. When Vander gets good looks, he tends to be dominate at home. When he doesn't, he tends to take contested shots or make difficult passes. I can promise you one thing, get this guy going early and he will get the crowd into it and that certainly would not hurt.
Keys for Marquette Defensively:
DO WHAT YOU DO AT HOME. There is a reason that this team has not lost in over a year at home. The answer. Defense. Syracuse is full of shooters but we now know after their loss against Georgetown that they are stoppable. There is not a more difficult schedule offensively than what the Orange have already started to face in a three day span.
Players to watch:
The former ineligibles.
James Southerland. Southerland played 34 minutes off the bench in Saturday's loss against the Hoyas. He led the team with 13 points. He also chipped in seven rebounds, two steals, an assist, and a block. A very impressive performance from an important player to the depth of this team.
Todd Mayo. It's a pleasant feeling to see a sophomore with such a pure shot not only start hitting some shots, but also creating his own and getting to the line where he is shooting 82% and hasn't missed since February 3rd against Louisville. Hopefully Mayo will see a little more time after putting up 9 points in only 13 minutes.
