Marquette @ Xavier 1/9/14

[xu1990]

Question for Marquette fans: While shaking Coach Mack's hand minutes prior to the beginning of the game, Mack pointed to the other side of the arena and Buzz went over and exchanged pleasantries with Mack's wife and daughter. He then went to the student section and shook hands with a bunch of students almost until the game started. Is this typical Buzz or should Xavier feel special?

It's hard not to like the guy.

I sit very close to where Buzz was storming the sidelines. He is fun to watch coach his players non stop for 40 minutes. Everything you hear and see about the guy...it is very tough not to like and respect him.


Tough game, physical, a little chippy. It's the style both teams play, close to the line, but hopefully not stepping over it. When Semaj is on, and JMart plays well, X is going to win.

I like Marquette, the school and the program.

Plus, the Cintas Center is a brutal place to try and find a win, even with students still gone.

[aughnanure]

Those 3s from Semaj were back breakers for us. That and the foul differential got out of hand (much hate for BURR). Still, signs of life are showing from Marquette. We could end up being pretty good by March...but we're gonna need to be in order to win 3 games at MSG.

[notkirkcameron]

There is no doubt, this year's Marquette team is probably the worst we've seen in the Buzz Williams era.

However, the optimistic Warrior in me remembers the 2009-10 season, where MU really didn't pick up a marquee win in non-conference other than beating Xavier in the Old Spice, which is probably equivalent to beating George Washington in the Wooden Legacy this year. That MU team started Big East play 2-5, with wins over Georgetown and Providence, and losses to West Virginia, Villanova twice, DePaul (ugh!), and Syracuse.

They then rattled off wins in 9 of their next 10 games to finish conference season 11-7, won 2 games at the Garden, and made the NCAA Tournament as a #6 seed. Buzz's teams always seem to finish strong (unlike his predecessor, whose teams had a tendency to play like world-beaters in January, and like mice in March).

[stever20]

There is no doubt, this year's Marquette team is probably the worst we've seen in the Buzz Williams era.

However, the optimistic Warrior in me remembers the 2009-10 season, where MU really didn't pick up a marquee win in non-conference other than beating Xavier in the Old Spice, which is probably equivalent to beating George Washington in the Wooden Legacy this year. That MU team started Big East play 2-5, with wins over Georgetown and Providence, and losses to West Virginia, Villanova twice, DePaul (ugh!), and Syracuse.

They then rattled off wins in 9 of their next 10 games to finish conference season 11-7, won 2 games at the Garden, and made the NCAA Tournament as a #6 seed. Buzz's teams always seem to finish strong (unlike his predecessor, whose teams had a tendency to play like world-beaters in January, and like mice in March).

2 big differences-
1- Xavier in 09-10 much stronger than GW this year. Xavier was a 6 seed. GW like recent bracketology was one of last teams in. Big Difference
2- Marquette in 09-10 was 9-3 OOC. They this year were 8-5 OOC. That's a pretty big difference- especially with 2 more losses.

Last night was just weird in that Marquette couldn't get a stop for a long period.

[XUFan09]

There is no doubt, this year's Marquette team is probably the worst we've seen in the Buzz Williams era.

However, the optimistic Warrior in me remembers the 2009-10 season, where MU really didn't pick up a marquee win in non-conference other than beating Xavier in the Old Spice, which is probably equivalent to beating George Washington in the Wooden Legacy this year. That MU team started Big East play 2-5, with wins over Georgetown and Providence, and losses to West Virginia, Villanova twice, DePaul (ugh!), and Syracuse.

They then rattled off wins in 9 of their next 10 games to finish conference season 11-7, won 2 games at the Garden, and made the NCAA Tournament as a #6 seed. Buzz's teams always seem to finish strong (unlike his predecessor, whose teams had a tendency to play like world-beaters in January, and like mice in March).

Xavier's final RPI was 17th that year. George Washington is projected to finish with an RPI ranked 47th this year. Marquee win > Good win.

For the good teams in the league that face them, Marquette is the "wounded animal" type of dangerous. Beat up, desperate, but still very capable of inflicting damage. That's how I viewed the Golden Eagles coming into last night's game and that's how I still view them for the remainder of Big East play.

[BEX]

Semaj had an incredible nite for sure. 28 points, 8/10, 9/10 ft's, 3-3 3's, 2 of which came at crunch time. He always attracts the opposing team's best defender. He did make a turnover after 140 minutes and 3 weeks of play. Got everyone involved with his "how did he do that" assists. This guy is a blast to watch for anybody who loves BB.

[notkirkcameron]

Was curious to see if the conception I had was actually right. I was.

2003-04: Started season 11-2 (2-0). Went 8-8 in Conference USA and finished 17-10 before losing to TCU in the first round of the C-USA Tournament.
2004-05: Marquette enters Conference USA play at 12-1, with a win over Wisconsin and their only loss to nationally-ranked Arizona. They proceed to go 7-9 in conference with losses to TCU, UAB, DePaul, and Saint Louis to finish 19-10, where they close out their time in Conference USA with a loss to Saint Louis at home on Senior Day, a first-round exit in the Conference USA Tournament at the hands of TCU, and a first-round NIT loss to Western Michigan at home.
2006-07: Marquette is 21-4 (8-2) on February 7th, and limps to a 23-8 (10-6) finish before being bounced by Michigan State in the first round
2007-08: Marquette starts 13-2 (3-1) and finishes 22-8 (11-7), good enough for 6th in the Big East. Bounced in the 2nd round of the tournament despite having 3 guys on the roster who would have a cup of coffee in the Association (Wes Matthews, Jerel McNeal, Lazar Hayward)

In contrast,
2009-10: Buzz Williams' Marquette team starts 11-8 (2-5), and finishes 20-10 (11-7), wins two games at the Garden, and loses on a buzzer-beater to Washington in the first round of the Tournament.
2010-11: On January 25th, MU is 13-8, and picked up zero quality wins in nonconference, losing to Wisconsin, Vanderbilt, Duke, and Gonzaga. They end up going to the Sweet 16.
2011-12: Starts Big East play 1-2. Finishes Big East play 14-4, only bettered by a Syracuse team that went 17-1. Goes to the Sweet 16.
2012-13: Wins 6 of last 7 games to come from behind and clinch a share of the Big East title. Goes to the Elite 8.

Buzz is a closer. That's why I may seem to have blue-and-gold-colored glasses on sometimes on this board. I'm looking around the far corner waiting for the late-breaking horse to kick it into gear.