With every three-point shot made, with every steal forced, with every transition sprint capped, Marquette made sure it got its point across: nine years may have passed, but the Golden Eagles still remember how to embarrass their cross-town foes on the hardwood.
In a game that was not nearly as close as the score would indicate, No. 13 Marquette put away Wisconsin-Milwaukee 100-65 Friday night at the Bradley Center. The Golden Eagles pulled away from the Panthers early in the second half, at one point extending their lead to 39 points.
Marquette now owns a 35-0 advantage in its all-time series with UWM, one that had been on hold since 1998. In the week leading up to the game, neither squad made much of the hype the city of Milwaukee attempted to apply to the affair. Players and coaches from both teams insisted they considered the match-up a rivalry of no sort whatsoever.
"You can't create anything by talking about it," Marquette head coach Tom Crean said. "You create (rivalries) by what the players do on the court."
What Crean's players did on the court Friday night did little to foster any sense of competition between the two programs. Sophomore forward Lazar Hayward recorded the first double-double of his career with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Junior guard Jerel McNeal helped out with a double-double of his own (16 points, 10 assists).
Meanwhile, UWM's two leading scorers — senior forwards Torre Johnson and Paige Paulsen — were ineffective for most of the night, and as a result, the Panthers struggled to build any sort of offensive momentum.
"Who knows?" UWM head coach Rob Jeter said when asked how Marquette was able to limit the offensive production of his go-to scorers. "The foul trouble didn't help. (Marquette) did a good job (on defense) of getting into our guys."
Johnson, who entered the game averaging 18.7 points per contest, picked up two quick fouls and played only five minutes in the first half. He finished the night with seven points and two rebounds in 16 minutes of work.
Paulsen, UWM's best perimeter shooter, went 0-for-2 from three-point range and recorded four points on the night. He entered the match-up averaging 16.7 points per game.
Marquette built a 17-point halftime lead due in part to the offensive efforts of junior guard Dominic James. However, it was the Golden Eagles' improved ability to break down the 2-3 zone defense.
In previous games, Marquette struggled to infiltrate the 2-3 zone. The Golden Eagles were reluctant to pass into the interior, settling instead for perimeter passes that resulted in more difficult shots.
Against UWM, Marquette's guards regularly slashed to the basket and then dished out to the open man.
"We did a great job of not going out and just settling and jacking up threes," McNeal said. "If we keep that up, there's not a whole lot of teams that are going to be able to zone us, especially if we continue to shoot the way we did tonight."
Marquette shot 54.1 percent from the field and 34.6 percent from three-point range on the night.
The main beneficiary of the improved kick-outs was James, who shot 7-for-9 from the field in the first half and recorded 16 points. He finished with 22 points and five assists.
Freshman guard Scott Christopherson made his first appearance in a game this season. After sitting out the first five games while recovering from minor surgery on his right knee, Christopherson played seven minutes and scored the first basket of his collegiate career.
Crean said he saw "a lot of rust" from Christopherson, but then pointed out the freshman guard recovered from his injury much quicker than the team expected.
The Golden Eagles welcomed Christopherson's return in light of another injury that may plague the team for the near future. Senior forward Dan Fitzgerald sat out Friday night's game with what Crean called a left wrist sprain. His status is day-to-day.
Fitzgerald started the first two games of the season and averaged 5.4 points per game in the first five contests.
Marquette added Robert Frozena, a 6-foot-1 freshman from Sherwood, Wis., to its roster before Friday's game.
For all the talk of how bereft this game was of special meaning, a hint of Marquette's true feelings may have shown through as the clock neared expiration.
With just under two minutes to go, sophomore guard Maurice Acker drew a charge with set off wild cheers from the crowd and an even more entertaining display on the Golden Eagles' sideline. Sophomore guard David Cubillan lifted Crean up from behind, suspending his coach in the air while grins spread across both their faces.
"One of the things Coach has been harping on us is once we get a team down, we can't let 'em back in," McNeal said. "When they're down, you have to kick 'em."