Marquette thread

[Sonoma Muskie]

Muskies are 10 pt favorite. UCLA thrashed the Golden Warriors. Failed to poison them wirh Usinger’s brats & utz’s pretzels after the 10 hour delay of game, lay over in Denver due to winter snow storm. Mother Nature gives Marquette all of those advantages & the LA Surfers still managed to ride the Westwood curl.

[muskieman]

Coming off an 11 point loss to UCLA Marquette has only lost to UCLA, Bonnies, and Wisconsin. They have split their last 6 games On rankings X looks good in this one with Marquette ranked 79th overall by KenPom 107th in offensive efficiency and 63rd in defensive efficiency. Xavier is ranked 22nd overall, 23rd on offense, and 31st on defense. But we all know that the game is played on hardwood, not paper. The Marquette Golden Eagles are averaging 73 points on 43.1 percent shooting and allowing 69.5 points on 41.6 percent shooting.

X has the experience but Marquette is a Shaka Smart team and plays aggressive D so X needs to take care of the ball, yes sounding like a broken record, and rebound where MU appears to be vulnerable. They play man to man and only sprinkle in some zone. They will play a backcourt trapping D on made baskets.

On offense, they like the three especially George Mason transfer Tyler Kolek 6-3, 182lb, their playmaker. He is a good passer but Scruggs should take advantage of his propensity to turn the ball over. Last year in 22 games he had 32 turnovers and he has that many this year in 11 games. In 29.2 minutes per game, Tyler is averaging 6.3 points (25.9% FG, 20% 3PT, 81% from the line), 5.6 assists, 4.0 rebounds, and 2.9 turnovers

Maryland transfer and Big 10 DPOY last year, Senior Darryl Morsell 6-5, 205lbs. He will give Jones fits because he can shoot the three and drive to the rim. In 29.2 minutes per game, Morsell is averaging 12.5 points (55.7% FG, 37.5% 3PT, 79% from the line), 8.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.9 turnovers

Covid Frosh. Justin Lewis 6'7" 235 lbs after playing in 21 games last year has been a starter in 2021 and in only 10 more minutes per game has practically doubled his scoring average from last year. He can play in the post and will rebound on the offensive end for second-chance points. His aggressiveness lets him draw fouls. In 30.9 minutes per game, Justin is averaging 15.4 points (45% FG, 27.8% 3PT, 76% from the line) and 7.8 rebounds. I hope Hunter and Free can handle him, methinks Hunter can.

Oklahoma transfer Senior Kur Kuath 6'10", 215 lbs loves to dunk and blacks shots, averaging almost three a game is their rim protector. He is long, lean, and quick but not a great rebounder. in 19.0 minutes per game he is averaging 5.9 points (70.7% FG, 46% from the line) which means foul him in a tight game. So he is not a big scorer even in his three years at Oklahoma.

Lastly, Kameron Jones a freshman with a reputation as a scorer who can also handle the ball and will attack the basket. He is a streaky 3 point shooter, that will hit three or four in a row but still only shoots 32% from three so X must keep him from getting hot. In 21.6 minutes per game, he is averaging 7.8 points (37.2% FG, 32.1% 3PT, 61.1% from the line)

Their bench has some talent because they play 10 per game but X needs to play their brand of D and make the most of Defensive stops. Xavier has the potential to run away with the game in the second half if they play the type of D we have seen in most of the last 6 games

X 82-68

[X-lucidity]

Rooting for X like crazy. That said- I am running out to tap into my home equity line to place some heavy action on Marquette plus those tasty points. Spread should be 7.5 max

[ChitownSteve]

A missed three, a foul (albeit cheap), two missed FT’s and a turnover all by Jerome Hunter and X goes down 8 and needs to call a time out. Sorry, I have little confidence in him.

[Sonoma Muskie]

The Muskies are playing horrible: throwing ball away, too many 3 pt attempts, loose sloppy defense & general lack of intensity.Down 3 pts. Finally take the lead with 4 min. Left in 1st half.
A team better than Marquette in BE would have buried us by now.
This kind of play will make 2021-22 a long sad season for Xavier.
March will be open for that Hawaii vacation.

[ChitownSteve]

Props to Dwon Odom for providing a huge spark for the Musketeers. Let’s see if X can “play Smart” and take control of the game early in the 2nd Half.

[skyhops]

I guess that Miles is not going to be the best defensive player in the BE as predicted by Steele. We need to get out of the zone and play some perimeter defense.

[muskieman]

Watching MU in a few games they come out leading in the first half and have given it back. Today they are hitting threes at a higher clip and X has been terrible from the fouls line. Sidebar when Jack misses from the foul line it seems to become an infection for the team. Bright spots Odom (5-5) taking it to the rim, and in one play twice could have taken threes and then instead drove it. Xavier's zone has slowed down MU who was shooting over 50% but ended the half cooled to 40%. X had risen to 46+%. Turnovers 6 X 7 MU, Defense will carry and a hotter Jones (2-5) and Nunge 2-5. Zack we need you too!

[Sonoma Muskie]

Great statistics. But how about bb fundamentals: crisp accurate passing, blocking out opponents when under the defensive basket ?

[Sonoma Muskie]

We all know that you speak in jest, X-lucidity, regardless of the point spread, a pot of gold reward, I would never bet against Xavier. It is a matter of principle:one word LOYALTY as in St. Ignatius of Loyola.