Marquette vs BNorth Dakota Game Thread....

[IWB]

Starting lineup....

Derrick Wilson
Matt Carlino
Duane Wilson
Juan Anderson
Steve Taylor

[IWB]

Luke Fischer in for MU at the 16:40 mark

[beerhere6]

Pretty sloppy offensively early!

[IWB]

Very sloppy beerhere - Less than 5 mins into the game and Mu already has 4 turnovers.

Jujuan Johnson will be checking in when we resume.

Officials tonight are Pat Driscoll, Mike Stuart and Tom Eades.

[IWB]

Worthless tidbit - North Dakota's jerseys - I have never seen the player's name on the back of the jersey in smaller print.

[TedBaxter]

They look like crap so far.

[TedBaxter]

Playing way too fast.

[IWB]

Very sloppy and ugly start for MU. The under 12:00 TV timeout comes at 10:58.

MU is 3-13 from the field, 1-5 from 3pt and 1-4 from the free throw line. Add that to 4 turnovers and that is an ugly offensive performance!

[IWB]

Marquette getting hammered on every shot in the paint with no calls.

MU now up to a measly 25% from the field on 5-20 shooting, still 14.3% from 3pt and 16.7% from ft line

[Markedman]

Ugly is right.....ND doubling Fischer, Taylor, and Juan whenever they get it in the post and nobody can make a jump shot.

Taylor has been active but he has to be able to make free throws or all thr activity is wasted.

[goldenlegal22]

Somewhat distressing to see teams drive easily from the top of the key 3 point line, right to basket when Fischer is out. Poor communication from the 2 guards up top in the 2-3.

[IWB]

Nd just like that, the fire is back. Juan is the fuel, he does get the guys going, but I think Luke's blocks were the key to the awakening. When Luke gets the ball at the high post, defense collapses on him almost always leaving Juan and Steve open under the hoop, Luke needs to keep feeding them the ball.

[beerhere6]

MU purely outhustled ND on that run

[IWB]

In Marquette's 11-1 run, they have out-rebounded North Dakota 5-0.

[Markedman]

Duane needs to settle down......he gets in trouble when he tries to do too much. We have taken more bad shots in tis half then we did in the last 2 games combined.

Move the ball.......

[Markedman]

Luke needs to learn how to handle the double team....and not to try lob passes into the post to Taylor when he isn;t open

[IWB]

Absolutely right Mark - We have been thrilled with the number of assists to made shots the last few games, tonight a large number of their misses are not from 'assisted' passes.

[TedBaxter]

Absolutely terrible first half on both ends. Even worse is that FoxSports Wisconsin had no sound in the first half while FoxSports North did. I DVR'd the wrong station.

[Markedman]

MU played that half like they didn't respect the opponent........got no production from Carlino or Duane.......MU not nearly talented enough to play this way and expect to beat anyone...

[beerhere6]

Carlino didn't look engaged at all, 3-4 TOs, zero offensive flow from anyone. Alarm needs to go off here soon

[WindyCityGoldenEagle]

We playing zone or man? How about nd?

[beerhere6]

ND started in tight man and went zone- mainly 2-3 for MU

[warriorfan4life]

Wojo will light their asses up at halftime, but his voice sounds worse then Buzz's did at the end of games.

[TedBaxter]

Halftime grade for the team = F-

[IWB]

Duane has at least been active, Carlino seems a bit out of it. Wonder if he is under the weather. He keeps turning to look at Wojo for the play. One time everyone was lined up, he called Derrick up to get the ball, then looked at Wojo for the play, Wojo called it and Derrick gave Carlino the ball back and headed back to where he was. Really seems like Carlino is out of it tonight.

Wojo was ready to snap coming off the court at the half, I am sure he was on fire in the locker room, hopefully MU responds.

Halftime Mu was up on the boards 22-17 with only 5 fouls committed, not bad.

[IWB]

To add to that - Carlino gets fould and makes the shot - the whole team goes crazy, guys on the court are jacked up, Carlino on the other hand looked totally gassed.

Alley-oop inbounds play - Juan was guarding the inbounder - he pretty much called it the whole time, but nobody defended it.

[goldenlegal22]

Inbounds D has been brutal tonight.

[TedBaxter]

Carlino has killed the team tonight.

[IWB]

Guy just hung on Luke's left shoulder, he is in pain - not good!

[IWB]

How can he come up short on a layup? Dude hit the bottom of the rim.

Did they show a replay of the foul on #14 DeRouen?

[IWB]

Luke seems to have shaken it off, but he has not had a problem since June, brace is all precautionary, hope that doesn't become an issue.

[goldenlegal22]

If JJJ gave half the effort he has on offense while playing D, he would be a great player off the bench. Instead he dogs it on D and is wildly inconsistent.

[TedBaxter]

Just showed the replay. Fischer tried to extend and basically did it to himself.

[IWB]

Thanks Ted - agree completely 22!

[IWB]

Did not think they would have to work so hard to win this game. Tyler is keeping them in it, along with some tough D from DeRouen.

[TedBaxter]

Duane's watching too much NBA crap. Stay up on D and don't go one on 4 on offense.

[IWB]

One on four offense..... one of the times he had Jujuan wide open in the corner, nobody on that entire side of the court - Duane drove in and lost it in traffic. Have to keep your head on a swivel and find the open man. You don't need 20 pts every night, your team needs to score!

[Markedman]

Nobody can make a jump shot....and the free throw shooting is beyond bad. Derrick has had a nice game but the offense is really just brutal.

With such a short bench Wojo really doesn't have many options when Duane and Carlino play like this.

[IWB]

MU absolutely crushing them on the glass 36-23, but North Dakota has 7 steals to go with MU's 10 turnovers.

[IWB]

MU goes up by three, Wojo may have wood.

[TedBaxter]

Don't allow a 3.

[IWB]

MU is 30% from the field for the game.

MU is 13.3% from 3pt for the game.

MU is 52% from the line for the game.

Ugly.

[Markedman]

Finally got Luke a touch in the post with no double...and he scores

[TedBaxter]

Juan pushing his free throws.

[IWB]

Funny exchange - North Dakota is shooting free throws. Luke and Juan are on the low block.

Luke: Do I got the shooter?

Juan: No, I got the shooter.

Luke: I thought I did?

Juan: Hold up Hold up.... asks the ref who has the shooter. Ref holds up the ball, asks 'what?' then shakes his head.

Luke: So you got the shooter?

Juan: I guess I got the shooter then, alright HEY! I GOT THE SHOOTER!

Of course neither one of them had the shooter, but the North Dakota players were looking at them like they were nuts, as was the ref.... ball comes off the rim, Juan gets it and ND player fouls him.

Odd, but effective.

[Markedman]

Way to go Derrick. You really came up big tonight.

[mufan2003]

Derrick Wilson might be having his best game this year. Getting into the lane, finishing, rebounding....good for him.

[TedBaxter]

Looks like Junior in a big game.

[IWB]

Between stat sheets - MU goes on a 17-5 run.

In that span MU picked up 6 rebounds and 4 assists.

Boosted their shooting percentage from 30% to 38.5%.

[IWB]

Derrick seems to be shutting down Tyler where Duane couldn't.

Impressive D - Last ND possession MU is in man-to-man. Juan dives for a ball and hits the deck. Without a second of hesitation, the team immediately shifts to zone. Defends three passes and denies the pass to the paint - Juan gets back in and without hesitation they are back to man-to-man.

Might not seem like a big deal but as quickly as they adjusted, it was impressive.

[WindyCityGoldenEagle]

Just following on phone - jj getting to the rim or hitting from outside or both?

[IWB]

Getting to the rim. He is 1-5 from three.

[Markedman]

Mostly at the rim......really bringing good energy in the 2nd half......He will always do some things that make you pull your hair out but he can create his own shot...which can be good...and bad.....lol

[IWB]

By the way, people were asking about Rosiak's lack of coverage. He has been on vacation, Rick Braun is covering for the JS tonight. Velasquez should be back for next game.

[beerhere6]

Juan must have close to 15 boards?! Great hustle...

[IWB]

Derrick hits a three at the shot clock buzzer - maybe people will stop ripping him for a couple of days?

[IWB]

Juan has 13 right now.

[goldenlegal22]

Derrick hits a three at the shot clock buzzer - maybe people will stop ripping him for a couple of days?

What a heads up play by Juan to tip the ball out on the entry pass. Is Juan the king of the little things?

[IWB]

MU comes roaring back, wins it 67-54.

[Markedman]

What a 2nd half by JJ....Juan with 13 rebounds to0

[pbiflyer]

Derrick seems to be shutting down Tyler where Duane couldn't.

Impressive D - Last ND possession MU is in man-to-man. Juan dives for a ball and hits the deck. Without a second of hesitation, the team immediately shifts to zone. Defends three passes and denies the pass to the paint - Juan gets back in and without hesitation they are back to man-to-man.

Might not seem like a big deal but as quickly as they adjusted, it was impressive.

I saw that, but didn't think I saw what I saw. Thanks for the confirmation. Was impressive.

[MU Viking]

How many games right before Christmas break seem to be ugly like that? Seems to happen to Marquette frequently. For as bad as much of that game was, I loved the toughness to end the game. Get the W and move on. UND wasn't too bad.

[pbiflyer]

So what was the Steve exchange in the. Huddle where he went off?

[Markedman]

Not sure what he said but it was right after ND got a dunk off an inbounds play....my guess he was pissed that nobody was talking on D.....or he was just trying to fire everybody up

[MUfan12]

How many games right before Christmas break seem to be ugly like that? Seems to happen to Marquette frequently. For as bad as much of that game was, I loved the toughness to end the game. Get the W and move on. UND wasn't too bad.

Wojo said the same thing after the game. Said he was terrified after seeing good teams struggle with their games right before Christmas.

Physical game suited North Dakota. Took MU out of a lot of what they wanted to do in the first half. MU will need to deal with it better come conference play.