Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel notes that last year Marquette was able to hold DeJuan Blair in check in both games.
One thing that stands out about both games as far as MU is concerned is the way it was able to hold down 6-foot-7, 265-pound forward DeJuan Blair. In the two games, Blair battled foul trouble en route to averaging just 4.0 points and 4.0 rebounds — obviously a huge boon for MU.
Except that the facts are wrong. Blair was 5-6 for 16 points and 8 boards in the Big East Tournament meeting in 33 minutes (he did have 4 fouls and 4 turnovers). In the embarrassment at the Bradley Center, Blair had 5 rebounds and 6 points in 23 minutes. Again he had 4 fouls and 4 turnovers. So, by my math, he averaged 10 points and 6.5 rebounds. Not great, but a little different. Clearly Rosiak must have meant the fouls and TOs.
The Golden Eagles showed against UConn and Louisville that they aren’t going to just fold and quit without James. Have to assume that Pitt isn’t taking this game for granted. Dominic James was not medically cleared to make the trip with his teammates. He has to suffer back in his crib and watch. Much like us.
Anyhow, there will be a liveblog. I repeat, for best results, view in Chrome. It responds best.
You can find the liveblog RIGHT HERE.
😉
Great offensive performance by the Panthers. They were patient and consistently got good shots. Worked it inside over and over and drew fouls in the second half when the game was in question. Also, gotta love the improvement in Blair’s foul shooting. He’s been getting better for a while and seems pretty reliable these days.
As they have all season, Pitt grinds opponents down in the second half and Marquette just wore out. They blinked when McNeal took a couple of low-percentage 3s after they’d grabbed the lead and you could just tell they didn’t have the patience or the depth to hold on.
Pitt took very few, if any, bad shots. Maybe Dixon took a couple 3s early that he didn’t need to hoist up, but those were the only questionable ones I remember. Sam missed a couple turnaround fadeaways on the baseline, but those are shots he normally makes.
Marquette misses James all over the floor. He’s not out there to set up McNeal and Matthews and he’s not out there as a presence and stopper on defense. Would have liked to see Pitt beat that team with them at full strength.
I certainly feel a lot better than I have after the Providence and Seton Hall games, which were really underwhelming efforts. Great confidence builder leading up to the biggest basketball game ever played at Pitt on Sat!
Great win, now we need to finish the deal and take down uconn.
I agree with HG on the shot selection. It was obvious that we were making a conscious effort to get the ball down low and take advantage of size, rather than hoisting up 3-pointers to try to match Marquette. We played smart and efficient…Oh, and Gilbert Brown came out of hibernation.
Blair was 9 for 12 from foul line — props for really improving in this area as the season progressed
Face it, one of the reasons for our big hopes is that this team can win at different tempos.
At 57-50, they went back inside, got some hoops, were far more patient, and then everything started falling, for the Panthers at least. Knew there was no way Marquette could keep that hot shooting up.
Once they had the big lead, they stayed focused and never gave Marquette the opportunity to get back in the game.
Great win. We Want UConn!!
defense played well at times, but will need to be more intense for a whole game in the ncaa tournament. can’t have defensive lapses and take quick shots in the NCAA. you won’t be at home and the crowd won’t be able to help you get back in the game.
all in all a great win against a marquette team that will likely be as good as pitt’s second round opponent.
