Didn't get to see the game......

[mufansince72]

As I was actually at Marquette today with my son at the engineering school open house and college scholarship competition. From reading the threads on various boards, it sounds like I did not miss much. With that said, the engineering school/program appears very impressive :)

[Mark Miller]

Actually, you missed Marquette getting its 16th victory of the season.

[kneelb4zerg]

Actually, you missed Marquette getting its 16th victory of the season.

Ha! Post of the season!

[mufansince72]

Ha! Post of the season!

Yep, a win is a win no matter how ugly. This post was actually meant to be props for the academics, rather than a slight on the team.

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

Here's how I'd sum it up...
.
Great defense to open the game, but didn't capitalize enough on offense. 7-0 lead about 6 minutes in.
DePaul made a strong comeback, taking a lead before halftime, but Marquette was able to regain the lead. 44-41 at halftime. Yes, that's 41 points in less than 14 minutes.
Great defense to open the second half, this time we did capitalize on offense. Up 58-43 about 6 minutes in.
DePaul made a strong comeback, tying the game at 68 with about 6 to play. Yes, that's 25 points in less than 10 minutes.
Boy...this feels eerily familiar.
Numerous ties in the final 6 minutes, but the final sequence must have been pretty entertaining for the neutrals. Up 1, DePaul fails to score and Jamil secures the rebound. He is fouled and sent to the line with 8.1 seconds left. He sinks them both. No TOs for DePaul, so they push up, and for some reason MU's defense sags off immediately. No one gets up on Garrett and he drills a 3 from about 4 feet beyond the arc to tie the game. 2.3 seconds left on the clock, MU inbounds to Derrick, who fires a 3/4 court shot and hits it...but it is waved off because Buzz called a timeout. MU throws a home run pass, intercepted by DePaul, and the Blue Demons get a halfcourt shot off at the buzzer that hits the top of the backboard. Overtime.
First four minutes of overtime were very back and forth. Never more than a 2-point lead either way. Derrick hit a runner with about a minute left to put us up 4. Exchange of turnovers, then Davante gets a rebound on the other end and is fouled. Two free throws to put us up 6 with 0:30 to play.
McDonald for DePaul hit a miracle corner three that seemed to bounce about 10 feet in the air and looked certain to be a bad miss before somehow coming back down and through. Derrick hit one free throw to make it two-possessions with 0:12 to play. DePaul got a runner to go but couldn't get another chance to tie or win.
.
Here's the thing...people are disappointed because it was DePaul, and "DePaul sucks". But this is the same DePaul team that had a lead on Georgetown at halftime, was within a single possession of Creighton on the road with about 7 to play, beat St. John's at home, and...umm...OH YEAH! They were leading Marquette at the Bradley Center with six minutes to play!

I'm not trying to say DePaul is a great team. Their record clearly shows otherwise. But they are a pretty tough team with a lot of talented youngsters that are learning to find their way. They are going to give some people difficult games. But as long as you get the win, that's all that matters. Today's game really was a great basketball game. If you take the names off the jerseys, this was a great game full of fantastic drama. Anyone who saw the Memphis/Temple game last night should realize that all that matters is taking the win and moving on. You can play a bottom-feeder, go to overtime, but as long as you win, that's all they care about come Selection Sunday.

[BLT]

Marquette is 9-5 in OT games under Buzz, and 2-2 this year. Third place looks pretty good right about now.

Jamil a +15 yesterday with 9 rebounds, but with swaths of time sitting with foul trouble, and Buzz subbing him in and out to protect him. MU built and held leads with him in, and lost them when out. He has scored in double digits five straight games since Buzz sat his fanny at SJU, averaging 17.2. Over those games, he has shot 48% FG, 83% FT, and averaged 7.6 rebounds. All of these are way ahead of his season averages. Not coincidentally, MU is 4-1.

Touch, dumb, and phantom fouls seem to follow him. But, as Jamil goes, so does MU.

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

Paint Touches had a good article (http://painttouches.com/2014/02/07/can-jamil-wilson-push-marquette-to-march-madness/) about how Marquette would go where Jamil would take them. Love seeing him step up right now, and there's no doubt we are a much better team when he's on the floor. If we go 3-1, we are virtually assured being alone in third place when the season is over because it would include wins over St. John's and Providence, and I find it unlikely Xavier will match us with Creighton, 'Nova, and St. John's on their schedule.

We'd go into the Big East tournament with a 56 RPI and 47 SOS. That'd at least have us in the talk, though we'd probably need a win or two to guarantee an at-large. One of the drawbacks is the remaining schedule of the teams we have wins over.

Georgetown: @ Marquette, Creighton, @ Villanova

We need to beat the Hoyas, but they only way they finish top-50 in RPI (assuming we win) is if they beat both Creighton and Villanova. That's a tall order. Creighton handled them by 13 in Omaha and 'Nova beat them at home.

Xavier: @ St. John's, Creighton, @ Seton Hall, Villanova

For the Xavier win to be top-50, they need to go 2-2. That's a tough schedule to go 2-2 against. Seton Hall has been bad at home (outside of playing Georgetown), not sure they can get any of those other three.

Providence: @ Butler, @ Seton Hall, Marquette, @ Creighton

If we beat Providence, we will have a sweep over a top-100 RPI team, but unless they go on a run in the Big East tourney, that's all it will be. A loss to Marquette ensures even if the Friars win their three road games (currently 2-4 on the road in conference) their best RPI going into MSG will be 54.

St. John's Xavier, DePaul, @ Marquette

If we beat the Johnnies, they will be a sub-50 RPI team. The only way they are top-50 is if they sweep their last three. Continues the trend of "if we beat the teams we need to beat, their RPIs will drop to the point where they are less valuable wins."

Also...if we get to the three seed, we will most likely have to beat Providence or Georgetown a third time in our BET opener. Which means that team will almost assuredly be a sub-50 RPI team.

And suddenly this feels wildly off topic, and didn't even end up about Jamil as I intended. Oh well...spent too much time on this post to not put it up, so I'm clicking "Post Quick Reply" anyway ;D

[Tmreddevil]

Brew... you seem to have a solid handle on the bubble. I used to follow more closely. .. was wondering if you or anyone else knows if the selection committee still looks at last ten games (a plus for mu) and whether or not they have incorporated kenpom or sagarin yet. I believe several big east teams are rated more favorably under those.

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

It's tough to say. From what the committee has said in the past, they want to emphasize the totality of a season more than just teams that are hot lately. Recent play seems to have more of an impact on seeding than who actually gets in. I looked at last year and some of the last teams in as well as the perceived first teams out. I think getting hot late helps.

In 2013, teams like California, La Salle, and Boise State finished hot and were able to secure some of the last bids. Meanwhile, teams like Maryland and Virginia finished poorly and were left out despite looking solid to get bids earlier in the year. There were exceptions. Minnesota finished the season horribly (5-11 in last 16) and still squeaked in, while Tennessee finished on a blistering run and were left out. But for the most part, being hot at the end seemed like a net positive for bubble teams.

Looking back to 2012, not all the teams that slipped in got very hot, but it is clear that all the teams that saw their bubbles pop got cold late. California and South Florida both finished well and got in. NC State and Colorado State finished okay and got in. But the most notable high-major snubs were Miami, Seton Hall, and Mississippi State, all of whom torpedoed late in the season.

If we get 4 more wins, no matter how they come, we will finish having won at least 8 of our last 11. I have to think that would be a positive in the committee's eyes. While they say it doesn't matter and they look at the totality of the schedule, recent history shows that finishing strong is more often than not a way to sneak in while finishing poorly is more often than not a way to fall out.

As far as the computer rankings...I'm really not sure. In the past two years, there were 4 top-40 Pomeroy teams that got snubbed and only 1 RPI top-40. In all of those cases, the Pomeroy teams had RPI rankings of 69 or worse.

My suspicion is they are using the computer systems, but RPI is still the first thing they look at. From what I understand, RPI is pretty much plastered all over the room, so whether it's a good indicator or not, it's a quick and easy way to look at two teams. While I personally am a strong advocate of advanced systems like Pomeroy and Sagarin, I'm pretty sure the committee looks at RPI first and second and everything else third. And when it comes down to two teams that are very close and they have to finalize the bracket, it will be RPI that probably takes precedence.

[mufan2003]

In reading the game summary, it mentioned how MU has won 4 of 5. Normally, winning 4of 5 would make a fan base happy.

I realize everyone wanted the Creighton game and DePaul should not have been allowed to go OT.....but a win is a win and MU is still alive. A lot of conferences with bubble teams losing and possessing bad records.