Marquette ThoughtZ™ 2

[RichZ]

1. Our penultimate game of the regular season saw a very sloppy start on our part.
2. We managed our first lead (12-11) @ 13:32 and the score was tied 14 all a minute later.
3. Solo makes it 17-14 a minute later
4. Dan Hurley quote from the first timeout huddle: "Dominate their ass on the glass" He said it thre times.
5. Mahaney and Diarra on the court together, and we've just kind of stalled. Coincidence?
6. We look like statues on interior defense.
7. Marquette has 37 points at the half. Except for their two 3 pointers and 5 FTs, the rest came on shots from 8 feet or closer. Mostly layups.
8. UConn did not attempted a FT in the first half. We do have 9 assists to their 3. But our absolute lack of defense in the paint kind of negates the need for assists on their part. Seems like Shaka's gameplan was to catch the inbounds pass, dribble down court to the rim and lay it in. And we seemed unable to stop it.
9. Oh, my God! Finally, a foul called on Marquette and Alex gets our first trip to the line of the game!
10. Tied it up at 16:08 but only for 12 seconds.
11. In one of the most unlikely sequences of the season, Johnson steals the ball at the 3 point line and drives down court for a layup AND gets fouled. Unfortunately, he missed the FT.
12. On the subsequent possession, McNeeley gets called for a magical mystery foul.
13. Take the lead back 55/54 at 10:00 on Tarris' dunk.
14. Lead increases to 7 points off Johnson's dunk at 7:49
15. And by the 42 second mark, that lead has shrunk to 1 point.
16. A Karaban 3 with 22 seconds left and foul shots from Diarra seal the deal.
17. 72-66 final.
18. All our starters ended in double figures. Led by AK with 22.
19. Marquette was 3 of 22 from 3. UConn 7 of 20.
20. End of the night, it was a tenuous 6 point win -- Kind of what I expected, except I thought the total score would closer to 150 points.
21. Good to see Alex rounding back into form ahead of the tourneys.