The athleticism freshmen Wes Matthews and Jerel McNeal bring to the Golden Eagles was apparent in less than a minute of action. After Marquette's first successful basket against Michigan Tech on Nov. 10, the duo swarmed the inbound's pass and forced a turnover.

"That's what coach wants to do. He wants to get out and pressure teams, and that's what we're able to do," Matthews said. "We were able to take them out of their game for a little bit."

Not only did the full-court pressure take Michigan Tech out of its game, it represented the only moments in the game in which the Golden Eagles clearly looked like the superior team. Marquette struggled in its half-court sets and only used the press periodically the rest of the game.

But it often worked.

With 38 seconds remaining in the first half, Matthews intercepted a pass, attacked the rim, dunked the ball and was fouled. Later, McNeal converted a three-point play off a press-induced steal midway though the second half. They were two of 19 Michigan Tech turnovers on the night.

"One of the guys on the bench mentioned, 'We're really trying to get a lot of steals on the ball,'" said head coach Tom Crean after the game. "And I said, 'I'm not sure that's a bad thing. We haven't been doing that in about three years.'"

Indeed, Marquette's two post-Final Four teams lacked the athleticism Matthews and McNeal can contribute to a defense. The absence of full-court pressure, however, is a trend not limited to the Golden Eagles.

Gone are the days in the early 1990s when Rick Pitino's Kentucky Wildcats battled Nolan Richardson's Arkansas Razorbacks atop the Southeastern Conference with 40 minutes of relentless, end-to-end pressure defense.

It's a lost art, aside from maybe the recent Alabama-Birmingham teams.

Coaches' fear of surrendering open three-point looks has led to the decline, and if Marquette's defensive tendencies against Michigan Tech continue, the costs of employing a full-court press would outweigh the benefits.

"We were gambling too much," Matthews said. "Once we gambled, they countered. And they were able to get open looks."

Michigan Tech stayed in the game with a handful of clean looks at the basket that resulted from Marquette players lunging for steals. The Golden Eagles held on for a 71-66 win, but superior opponents surely will not let Marquette off the hook so easily if they are given so many open shots.

Crean said switching defenses, especially so early in the season, caused many of the defensive breakdowns. He was also disappointed with on-the-ball defending against the dribble, which forced other Marquette players to help and leave shooters open on the perimeter.

"Hopefully the team you see now will play hard, play aggressively and will be able to do different things defensively," Crean said.

The aggressiveness of defensive pressure can give the team some easy baskets if properly used. Like many things for Marquette this year, however, it will likely be a work in progress.