Marquette-West Virginia Postgame Notes & Quotes
1/10/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 10, 2009
? Marquette improves to 4-0 in BIG EAST Conference play for the first time since joining the league. With the win the Golden Eagles also improve to 12-0 at the Bradley Center this season and 4-3 all-time against WVU.
? After a 10-of-10 performance from the floor in his last outing, Wesley Matthews struggled to find his rhythm in the first half, playing nine minutes and missing all four of his shot attempts. In the second, Matthews hit his first three shots to help lift Marquette to a 40-35 lead in the midst of an 11-0 Golden Eagle run.
? Matthews has passed Cordell Henry and moved into a tie with Russ Wittberger for 18th place on the all-time scoring list at MU. His 13 points give him 1,353 for his career.
? Marquette went on a 24-5 run to end the game following a West Virginia basket at the 8:13 mark of the second half.
? Marquette finished the game 24-27 (88.9 percent) from the free throw line, including 12 straight from the 12:55 mark to the 6:16 mark of the second half.
? West Virginia entered the game as the No.1 ranked defense in the BIG EAST in terms of scoring, holding opponents to a mere 56.6 points per game. The 75 points allowed today is the second highest total given up by the Mountaineers this season. Ole Miss scored 78 points in an 80-78 WVU win on Dec. 3.
? Jerel McNeal tied a season high with 26 points to go along with seven rebounds. McNeal also had 26 against Wisconsin and Cincinnati. His 26 points give him 1,606 for his career.
? Dominic James tied a season high with seven assists to give him 576 for his career. James also scored 17 points to move his career total to 1,631 (six points behind Dean Meminger for eighth all-time).
Postgame Quotes - MU vs. West Virginia
MU Head Coach Buzz Williams:
"It was the tale of two halves. I thought we were pitiful in the first half and a little bit of a drop off for the first time in the 17 games we have played. Lazar was taking an I.V. so he didn't take a jumper or break a sweat until the game started. I thought we were stagnant offensively in the first half and Da'Sean Butler looked like Kobe Bryant and I think they had eight offensive rebounds in the first half. And we were able to hang in there despite Wes' two fouls and I thought that we were able to hang in there which is why I didn't put him back in even though No. 22 and No. 25 had two fouls. I thought in the second half that we got back to what we do offensively, which always feeds our offense. I thought we were better on both ends of the floor. They shot 25 percent, which is really hard for us to do with their matchups. The way they play is a unique scout. We are undersized but Pat and Dwight are not used to guarding perimeter guys. I was grateful for how we responded in the second half and for how Lazar responded to help us down the stretch. I thought those four core guys were really, really good in the second half. "We want to stop the clock and get free points, but we don't have the depth to defend the way we want to defend and foul.
"I thought it was a classic BIG EAST fight in regards to everybody is going to fall down, everybody is going to go after every rebound and we're size deficient, for sure, when the shot clock is up. The thing that makes them unique is that they play five-out motion, so we have to take a running start because they play on the perimeter. They are averaging 19 offensive rebounds and 19 turnovers per game. Those two statistics are what makes West Virginia/Coach Huggins teams the way they are. We are in a fight on offense and defense, partly because of our size, but also that is how we play the best.
"Dominic can guard anybody he wants to as it relates to the scouting report. He is undersized to be on No. 22, but we are undersized at every other position so he can just join the group.
"We still don't practice free throws. When we have to make them those guys have big hearts. And I'll stand right behind them."
MU Guard Jerel McNeal:
It wasn't perfect by any means. It was going to be an ugly game, we knew what type of style they were going to make for us. Our main focus coming into the game we knew that we had to go out and match that intensity and we didn't play perfect at all, but at the end I feel like we did a great job to come out on top.
On MU going on a run at the end of the second half...
It's just a testament to the unbelievable leadership and experience that this team has. Once we get in those spots in the crunch time of the game we need big plays, big shots, big baskets, things like that. Hopefully we can continue to do that and it is something that carries us throughout the course of the conference season because a lot of games are going to come down to two-, three-minute segments in the game that are important.
On the seniors on the floor...
We just have a great feel for whose hot and who can do what. You know who needs a shot and whatnot. We have unbelievable chemistry on the court right now. It is good on the floor because we keep talking to each other, constantly, constantly.
WVU Head Coach Bob Huggins:
It started to get away a little bit and I didn't see any sense in having Da'Sean (Butler) sit to the point that we couldn't get back into the game. I put him back in it's a two point game, and we foul a guy at half court and they go make two, and go up by four.
On MU's senior guards...
What people overlook is that they put so much pressure on the ball they take you out of what you want to do offensively. I thought today they did a very good job defensively. They are undersized and they are mismatched on a lot of occasions and they really compete.
