The men's basketball exhibition game against Cardinal Stritch simultaneously questioned Marquette's potency in halfcourt sets and reassured fans that the team can overcome its deficiencies by, well, playing really fast.

When mired in a halfcourt game, as Marquette often found itself in the first half of Sunday's game at the Bradley Center, the team settled for three-point attempts and crashed the offensive boards.

"We were very slow at the beginning of the game, not moving the ball the way we needed to," head coach Tom Crean said. "As the game went on we got a lot of open shots because of the drive-and-kick" opportunities.

Wesley Matthews benefited most from the improved ball movement in the second half, as the sophomore hit 5-of-6 three-pointers for a game-high 24 points in Marquette's 99-70 victory.

Despite the comfortable score line, the opening 10 minutes of the game showed how much the team missed Steve Novak in the halfcourt offense. Sophomore Dominic James, who missed all three of his long-range attempts early on and finished 1-of-8 behind the arc, accepted some of the blame for this inefficient stretch of play.

"I started off looking for my shot a little too early, rather than getting my teammates involved," James said.

Crean identified his team's No. 1 concern as the lack of ball rotation on offense: "When we hold the ball, when we settle for threes, when we're shooting challenged shots, when we're not getting the ball reversed."

Before Matthews' shooting prowess eased the halfcourt worries, Marquette used its greatest strength to pull away from its NAIA opponent.

Trailing 22-21 with 9:45 left in the first half, the Golden Eagles turned Cardinal Stritch turnovers into fast-break buckets and reeled off seven consecutive points in 41 seconds. Marquette ended with 27 fast-break points.

The transition game's effectiveness — especially against an exhibition opponent — was not surprising, but Matthews raised a few eyebrows with his perimeter touch. Crean said the sophomore shot the ball better than he had in any practice this fall, and Matthews wasn't exactly on fire before the game, either.

"Jerel (McNeal) said I was due because I didn't make a shot in warm-ups," Matthews said.

Making shots is easier when in the flow of the offense. James, who finished with 19 points and seven assists, distributed the ball more in the second half and assisted on consecutive Matthews three-pointers as Marquette took a 71-53 lead.

Aside from Matthews, however, the team made just 5-of-22 three-point attempts.