KANSAS CITY, Mo. – This talk about Dominic James being one of the best point guards in the country needs to stop.

Not because James lacks the ability, but because those who perpetuate this claim are tainting the definition of a true point guard and overlooking the way James' teammates can assume his duties – as they did to great effect Monday night.

The men's basketball team cruised to an 87-72 victory over Texas Tech in the CBE Classic semifinals and will face Duke tonight at Municipal Auditorium.

While the match-up on paper has James lined up against the Blue Devils' talented sophomore point guard, Greg Paulus, the on-court reality likely will include James playing off the ball in halfcourt sets as often as running the point.

"This is the fourth straight game we've been playing him that way," head coach Tom Crean said. "It moves him around. It makes preparation just a little bit harder" for the opposition.

Texas Tech seemed unprepared in the first half, as Marquette converted Red Raider turnovers into easy points and jumped out to leads of 11-2 and 24-10. The primary offensive creators for Marquette during this period were sophomores Jerel McNeal and Wesley Matthews, who usually are labeled as off guards.

McNeal often operated the point in transition, and Matthews handled the ball in halfcourt sets. While they led the team in scoring (Matthews with 20 points, McNeal with 19), their assist totals (Matthews six, McNeal seven) were better indicators of how the Golden Eagle offense operated. James, on the other hand, finished with 16 points and just one assist.

The stellar performance of the three-pronged attack Monday night will further boost the team's confidence in running the offense without James front and center.

"We're very confident," Matthews said. "That's a credit to the kind of team we have, that we have confidence in each other that we're going to get the job done no matter who is bringing it up the court and who is in what position."

The team's ball movement on offense has improved since the first games of the season as the off guards have adjusted to the point-guard mind-set that Crean wants to instill.

"The biggest thing is that we want to have a point-guard mentality in the three sophomores," Crean said. "When we can attack from different points on the floor, when we have guards that can see the floor, I think that gives us a chance to be successful."

And it doesn't even end with the sophomores.

Freshman David Cubillan, who had 11 points, came off the bench to run the point and scored in double figures for the third straight game. Cubillan, who made 3-of-5 three-pointers, adds an element that is inconsistent in the games of the other three guards: perimeter shooting.

Marquette's balanced and increasingly unpredictable attack kept the Red Raiders at a double-digit margin for the entire second half, a performance good enough to impress Texas Tech head coach Bobby Knight.

"They've done a really good job with those kids in terms of how hard they play and how unselfishly they play," Knight said. "They're just a better team."