Leading up to Marquette's regular-season opener against Hillsdale College Friday night, the Golden Eagles saw the game as an ideal opportunity to abuse a pushover opponent. The game would help Marquette inch closer toward establishing an identity, and more importantly, a style of play.

No one came to watch an actual game at the Bradley Center, just a show.

Not so fast.

Marquette trailed at halftime, thanks largely to 0-of-7 shooting from sophomore Dominic James, before finally proving too athletic for Hillsdale, winning 76-66.

"Some teams have to wait six, seven, eight weeks to figure out what kind of team they are," head coach Tom Crean said.

The Golden Eagles were grossly out of sync on offense in the first half, forcing shots and squandering opportunities from the free-throw line. Marquette's sluggish on-the-ball defense allowed Hillsdale wide-open looks, leading to a 36-32 Hillsdale lead at the half.

Marquette's energy increased with the start of the second half, but its offense never got comfortable. The hot hand of Hillsdale's Tim Homan tied the score at 51-51 on a three-pointer with 9:25 left in the game. He finished with 18 points.

"The opponents we have played of late have done a very good job of playing the way that they want to play," Crean said. "And our team has got to learn to play 40 minutes the way" the Golden Eagles played in the second half.

After a first half in which James scored just one point, he relaxed and finished with 13 points on 3-of-15 shooting. Wesley Matthews added just six points. Sophomore Jerel McNeal carried the burden of James' and Matthews' lack of offense. McNeal forced the issue at times, shooting 7-of-22, and finishing with a game-high 19 points.

"I think I came out pressing on offense," James said. "We're still trying to get the chemistry on offense. We've got a lot of new guys, and I think we're still learning about each other."

With 5:38 remaining, Marquette led 60-58. On a well-executed play, McNeal slashed toward the bucket, collapsed the defense and passed the ball left to junior Dan Fitzgerald for a three from the corner. That was as close as Hillsdale would come the rest of the night.

"Coming into the game, you know, we sat back too much and let them get a lot of back cuts," McNeal said. "We really got up into the guys in the second half."

The team's comfort level will increase when Marquette realizes it must maintain constant energy on defense, Crean said. The more aggressive Marquette is on defense, the more opportunities will arise at the other end.

"That will come," Crean said.