Marquette carries winning streak, momentum into conference play
MILWAUKEE -- There's little question the Marquette Golden Eagles are a much-improved basketball team from when they left for the Orlando Classic just prior to Thanksgiving.
Where does that leave the Golden Eagles entering Big East play? Marquette's 81-53 rout of Morgan State at the BMO Harris Bradley Center on Sunday provided few answers to that question.
Marquette did take care of business against Morgan State, a program that has made two NCAA tournaments and played in six MEAC championship games in coach Todd Bozeman's eight years at the school.
"I think our guys handled today maturely," Marquette coach Steve Wojciechowski said. "The game before break, we didn't handle it as well as we could. A big point of emphasis was playing the right way and having a great performance that would give us positive momentum heading into the bees' nest that is the Big East conference."
The Golden Eagles enter conference play on a four-game winning streak, but only one of those victories came against a team from a major conference.
Marquette held Morgan State scoreless for nine minutes, 27 seconds in the first half to go on a 14-0 run to take a 28-9 lead. From there, the Golden Eagles cruised, leading by over 20 points for the final 13 minutes of the game.
Ever since sophomore center Luke Fischer became eligible, Marquette has had a high assist to made field goal percentage and that continued Sunday. The Golden Eagles have assisted on 76.5 percent (88 of 115) of their field goals over their four-game winning streak.
Marquette has assisted on 66.3 percent (197 of 297) of its made field goals this season, which ranks top-5 nationally.
"There are things to be encouraged about," Wojciechowski said. "I'm encouraged by our improvement, but I'm also realistic. We have to continue to improve to win conference games because everything steps up a level when you get into conference play."
One major concern Marquette has moving forward is rebounding. The Golden Eagles entered Sunday ranked 323rd out 351 Division I teams in total rebounds per game and have been out-rebounded in nine of 12 games.
Morgan State had 17 offensive rebounds Sunday to finish with a 35-34 advantage on the glass. The Golden Eagles came into their non-conference finale allowing 9.7 offensive rebounds per game, 228th in the nation.
"It wasn't good," Wojciechowski said of Marquette' rebounding effort Sunday. "I was really disappointed, especially in the first half, with the way we rebounded. We have to get a lot better at that.
"Even with Luke (Fischer) back, we don't have great team size. Our perimeter is on the small side. We have to really team rebound. We have to have a better effort defensively to rebound collectively. When we do, we're pretty good in transition. Hopefully they can rebound first and then get the ball down the floor."
Through Dec. 21, RPIRatings.com had the Big East with the second-best conference RPI behind only the Big 12. Villanova and St. John's are currently ranked in the top 25, while Georgetown, Seton Hall and Butler all received votes last week.
The league is much improved from its inaugural season, which might not be a good thing for a young and short-handed Marquette team.
"In the locker room coach said conference is a different beast and we have one of the best conferences in the country," Marquette freshman forward Sandy Cohen III said. "Practices have got to improve every day. We've got to come stronger and harder because the conference is no joke."
Important visitor: Louisville transfer Akoy Agau was on an unofficial visit to Marquette on Sunday, taking in warm-ups from the team's bench before moving into the stands for the game.
Agau, who was ranked as the No. 84 overall recruit in the class of 2013 by ESPN, cited a lack of playing time as his reason for transferring from Louisville. The 6-foot-8 forward played in 19 games as a freshman last season but appeared in just three games for the Cardinals this year after recovering from sports hernia surgery he underwent in July.
A native of Sudan, Agau spent time in Egypt before moving to the United States in 2002. He averaged 12.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and blocked 81 shots as a senior at Omaha Central High School in Nebraska.
Agau chose Louisville over scholarship offers from Georgetown, Baylor, Memphis, West Virginia and Nebraska.
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