Creighton will provide tough test today.
Bluejays tough despite loss of senior star
Omaha, Neb.— After a dismal second half in a loss at No. 14 Butler on Monday afternoon, the Marquette men’s basketball team is looking for its latest opportunity for a bounce-back performance.
The Big East schedule-makers didn’t do the Golden Eagles any favors.
At 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Marquette (12-6, 3-3 Big East) continues its toughest stretch of the season as it visits CenturyLink Center for a clash against No. 7 Creighton (18-1, 5-1), which is off to the best start in program history.
One of the few positives for the Golden Eagles is one that no one would wish for. Earlier this week, Bluejays fifthyear senior point guard Maurice Watson Jr. announced his college career had come to an end due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.
“Your heart goes out for him,” Golden Eagles coach Steve Wojciechowski said. “The kid was having a magical season, a first-team All-American caliber season. A terrific college player and my heart goes out to anyone whose college career is ended by injury. You hate to see that happen.”
As detrimental as it was for Creighton to lose Watson, the player they relied upon to run one of the most efficient offenses in the country and the national leader in assists, the Bluejays still managed a victory at No. 19 Xavier on Monday despite Watson leaving the game in the first half.
There certainly will be changes and some level of drop-off, especially considering Watson accounted for about 35 points per game with his points and assists, but the cupboard at Creighton is far from bare.
“They’re still really good,” Wojciechowski said. “Since Mo’s injury I’ve watched every minute of games that he was not on the floor … and see if there’s different things that they do without him. They still have a lot of weapons.”
Those include redshirt junior Marcus Foster, a transfer from Kansas State who is leading the Bluejays with 18.1 points per game. Creighton also has gotten huge production from 7-foot redshirt freshman Justin Patton, who is averaging 13.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.7 blocks while shooting the fifth-highest percentage on two-pointers (74.6%) in the country.
“(Patton) presents a number of problems, but you’ve got to try to eliminate his dunks,” Wojciechowski said with a laugh. “It sounds easy but is hard because he gets dunks in transition because he runs the floor like a gazelle. ... If he’s going to hit three-pointers or if he’s going to make multiple post moves over the top of good defense, then you tip your cap to him.”
Creighton boasts one of the top offenses in the country, ranking second in two-point percentage (60.0%) and 10th in threepoint percentage (40.6%). Marquette, which is the only Big East team that has averaged more points per game than Creighton, is one of the few teams that has the firepower to keep up. The Golden Eagles rank sixth in three-point percentage (41.2%) and 40th in two-point percentage (54.1%).
Thus, Saturday’s victor will be either the winner in a race to 100 points or the one that shows up on defense, with the latter being more likely. That doesn’t favor Marquette, which has had issues getting production at the defensive end in back-to-back halves of games, as evidenced by the Golden Eagles allowing 63 second-half points to Butler on Monday.
After watching film, Wojciechowski cited a lack of effort, especially at the beginning of the second half, as a major problem on defense. He also noticed a drop-off in communication.
“Our communication defensively is generally much better in the first half when they’re in front of our bench and generally not as good when they’re away from our bench,” Wojciechowski said. “The halves where we haven’t played well defensively, the vast majority of those have occurred when the defense is away from our bench.”