Brats & Beer » Marquette

Well, the conference tournaments were pretty disappointing but now the NCAA tourney is set to begin. Wisconsin, which got booted in the quarterfinals after losing to Indiana 61-56, made the #9 seed in the Minneapolis bracket. They play on Friday against #8 seed Arizona and would advance to play Villanova, the top seed in that bracket. Wisconsin-Milwaukee, which beat Butler to win the Horizon League title, is the #11 seed and plays Oklahoma on Wednesday. Marquette, meanwhile, earned the #7 seed in the Oakland bracket and plays #10 seed Alabama on Wednesday. A win would probably send the Golden Eagles against UCLA, the #2 seed in that bracket. Sadly, though not unexpectedly, my Cyclones were shut out on the post-season invites, not even the NIT wanted them around. On the bright side, though, they are a pretty young team and should be returning a lot of starters from this year.

Enough fooling around with regular season conference games, it’s time to get serious. The Big 12 and Big 10 tournaments get started this week and I’m looking for good things from both my Cyclones and my Badgers. Okay, neither team was looking real sharp coming down the stretch, but a guy can still have hope. Iowa State comes into their tournament as the #10 seed after losing to Colorado 82-84 this past Saturday to close out their season with a 16-13 overall mark and a 6-10 conference record. They play Oklahoma State (16-14, 6-10 Big 12) in the first round, a team they beat 68-52 just a couple weeks ago, so I’m hopeful the Clones will get into the second round on Friday. If they do advance, the Cyclones will have to play #2 seed Kansas.

Over in the Big 10, Wisconsin gets a pass on the first round as the #4 seed, despite closing out the season with a two game loosing streak. The Badgers (19-10, 9-7 Big 10) play #5 seed Indiana (17-10, 9-7 Big 10), who was ranked #24 when the Badgers beat them 72-54 at the end of January. A win against the Hoosiers will most likely send UW against #1 seed Ohio State.

To be honest, Marquette probably has the best chance to go deep in their tournament, being the #4 seed in the Big East. The Golden Eagles get a bye on first round action and will play the winner of the Georgetown (a ranked team they beat) vs. Notre Dame matchup on Thursday, which will probably send them up against UConn (another ranked team they beat) on Friday.

Marquette had their three-game winning streak broken last night by Louisville, losing to the Cardinals 67-60 in overtime. The Golden Eagles made a furious run in the second half with Steve Novak scoring 20 points and Dominic James hitting a three-pointer at the buzzer to tie the game in regulation. In the extra period, though, Marquette’s guns went silent as Taquan Dean hit two free throws and a three-pointer to put Louisville in charge for good. The Golden Eagles drop to 19-9 on the season and 9-6 in Big East play with their final game of the regular season looming against Providence (12-14, 5-10 Big East) on Saturday.

Marquette is really making their presence know in the Big East during their debut season. The Golden Eagles beat #9 Pittsburgh yesterday 84-82, their third victory over a ranked conference opponent this year. Marquette took the lead late in the first half and never let up behind an awesome performance by Steve Novak, who scored 27 points to lead his team to the win. Dominic James came up with 16 points and Wesley Matthews added 13 off the bench. The Golden Eagles last month beat both UConn, who were ranked #2 in the nation, and they defeated #17 Georgetown this past Thursday. Looks to me like mighty Marquette should get a nod from the list makers at the AP. With the win, the team advances to 8-5 in Big East action and 18-8 overall. The travel to South Bend to take on Notre Dame (13-10, 4-8 Big East) on Saturday.

The Golden Eagles scored a huge upset last night, beating #17 Georgetown 57-51. Steve Novak powered the team to victory with 19 points; Dominic James added 16 and Jerel McNeal scored 10 more. The Hoyas held the lead until a 14-1 run gave Marquette the lead at halftime, and from there the Golden Eagles barely looked back. The win snaps a two game skid and advances Marquette’s conference record to 7-5; they are 17-8 overall. The Golden Eagles will need more of this kind of spunk when they host #9 Pittsburgh (20-3, 9-3 Big East) on Saturday.

The wife and I spent most of the weekend getting ready for yesterday’s Super Bowl party, so I missed a lot of other sports action this weekend, but looking at the scores maybe it was best I did. The UW basketball team lost to Purdue on Saturday 70-62. Purdue? You mean formerly 1-8 Purdue? Yes, that Purdue. The Badgers went cold once again, shooting just 38% from the field, and they committed 14 turnovers. Tucker was the only bright spot for Wisconsin, scoring 22 points, but the three-game losing streak has left the Badgers in sixth place in the Big 10 with a 5-4 conference record. They host #22 Indiana on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the Badgers hockey team managed to end their losing streak on Friday by beating UM-Duluth 7-2, but then they dropped Saturday’s contest 4-1. Ben Street scored twice in Fridays match while goalie Shane Connelly had 28 saves. Saturday, though, Joe Pavelski scored the lone point among Wisconsin’s 32 shots on goal. The Badgers face Ohio State this coming Saturday in the Frozen Tundra Hockey Classic at Lambeau Field.

The ISU Cyclones fared a little better, beating Colorado 96-79 on Sunday to climb back to .500 in the Big 12. Rahshon Clark and Curtis Stinson both scored 24 points against the Buffs to snap their three-game slide. The Clones travel to Kansas State on Wednesday to face the 12-7 Wildcats.

The Cyclones hockey team also enjoyed a successful weekend, taking a pair from Missouri. They beat the Tigers 7-1 on Friday night and won 5-2 on Saturday, with Mike Murtaugh scoring twice in Friday’s win and getting a hat trick the next day. With the wins, Iowa State advances its overall record to 31-5-2 and could climb to #4 in the next ACHA rankings.

Marquette, though, got topped by #4 Villanova 72-67 even though the Golden Eagles out shot the Wildcats 49% to 31% from the field, but a 12-0 run late in the game gave Nova the win. Marquette drops to seventh in Big East witha 6-4 conference record. They play at Rutgers (13-9, 3-6 Big East) on Sunday.

Finally, and I do mean finally, the Bucks found a way to win on Saturday, beating Memphis 88-78 behind Michael Redd’s 23-point effort. Jamaal Magloire scored 17 with 11 rebounds and Andrew Bogut added 12 points and 10 boards. Just not sure how they were able to do that while scoring just eight points in the second quarter. Jeeze. Milwaukee plays at 27-19 Cleveland tonight.

Whew!

A good win for the Golden Eagles last night, who rebounded from their loss to Pitt by beating St. John’s 81-61 at the Bradley Center. Steve Novak led the Golden Eagles with 29 points and eight rebounds, while Dominic James scored 16 and Jerel McNeal added 11 points. Marquette led by three at the half, but a 13-0 run in the second half put MU up for good. The win advances the Golden Eagles to 6-3 on Big East play and 16-6 overall. They travel to Villanova to face the #4 Wildcats (16-2, 7-1 Big East) on Saturday.

The Golden Eagles came out of the gates with lots of steam but the Pitt Panthers recovered in the second half to win 77-71. Marquette had a couple good runs in the first half on their way to a 40-33 halftime lead, including an 8-0 run at the start and a 19-7 run later in the half. However, Pittsburgh came back with two 10-0 runs in the second half to take a commanding lead. To make matters worse for thew Golden Eagles, both Dominic James and Jerel McNeal were injured in the loss. James led Marquette with 16 points and McNeal scored 10, while Ryan Amoroso came off the bench to score 14. Check out Cracked Sidewalks for a very good run down of the game. With the loss, the Golden Eagles fall to 5-3 in the Big East and 15-6 overall. They host St. John’s (10-7, 3-3 Big East) on Wednesday.

You better get all your outdoor chores done early, or put them off until later, because there is lots of hoops action to watch today. The Wisconsin Badgers are looking for a second straight Big 10 win as they go up against Michigan in Ann Arbor. The Wolverines are 4-2 in conference play and come into the game with three consecutive wins, including a 72-67 victory over #12 Michigan State. A win by the Badgers would surely keep them in the top 25 and maintain their position atop the Big 10 standings.

Marquette, meanwhile, is going against #10 Pittsburgh and looking for their fourth victory in a row. The Golden Eagles have had a couple easy wins against DePaul and a close one against Notre Dame, so this should be a good test of how well they’ll do in the Big East down the stretch. A win would further solidify Marquette in the top five of the conference.

Finally, Iowa State is hosting Kansas today in an effort to break up the log jam in the middle of the Big 12 standings. The Cyclones came out of Missouri with a big win this week, so we’ll see if they can keep it going.

The Golden Eagles won their third consecutive game tonight, defeating DePaul 62-47. Dan Fitzgerald came off the bench to led Marquette with a career-high 18 points, while Dominic James scored 12 and Jerel McNeal put in 11 more. Marquette took the advantage early and led by 12 points at the half before coasting in for the victory. Their streak began a week ago with an 82-79 victory at DePaul. The Golden Eagles improve to 5-2 in the Big East and 15-5 overall. They travel to #10 Pittsburgh on Saturday.

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