Pulling their best Marquette imitation, the Blue Demons were the ones creating turnovers with stiff man-to-man defense, the ones initiating fast-breaks with a blinding fury, the ones atoning for their mistakes when given another opportunity.,”If Saturday night's match-up between No. 21 Marquette and DePaul was to be about second chances, the beginning did not bode well for the Golden Eagles.
Pulling their best Marquette imitation, the Blue Demons were the ones creating turnovers with stiff man-to-man defense, the ones initiating fast-breaks with a blinding fury, the ones atoning for their mistakes when given another opportunity.
In the end, however, the Golden Eagles had too much recent history to make up for. Following a week in which Marquette dropped two road games in unspectacular fashions, the team returned home to the Bradley Center and claimed a 79-71 win over DePaul.
The Golden Eagles returned to form in the second half, taking advantage of the second chances the Blue Demons afforded them. Though Marquette shot 33.3 percent from the field and went 0-for-5 from beyond the arc in the first half, DePaul surrendered its lead with less than six minutes remaining and entered the intermission trailing by two.
"For the most part, our guys played with great will; they battled," Marquette head coach Tom Crean said. "We wanted to play until exhaustion…and for the most part, that's what we were able to do."
Junior guard Dominic James ended the game as the Golden Eagles' leading scorer with 19 points, but it was the redeeming play of senior forward Ousmane Barro that helped stem DePaul's charge.
The Blue Demons set the tempo for most of the first half, utilizing the bulk of frontcourt duo Mac Koshwal (6-foot-10, 240 lbs.) and Wesley Green (6-foot-9, 300 lbs.). DePaul controlled the boards early, which made its 34.3 percent shooting percentage in the first half less problematic.
"They were leaking out a lot, getting a lot of long rebounds and going from there," junior guard Wesley Matthews said. "We had to make sure we got our guys back, and when we went to the offensive glass, we went with a purpose."
Enter Barro, who, after being a regular starter last season has cracked the lineup just once this year due to a penchant for getting into early foul trouble, came off the bench to score four points, grab six rebounds and block two shots for the Golden Eagles.
His final stat line was not overly impressive, but he had an impact on the game, something Marquette had not gotten from a post player not named Lazar Hayward in recent memory.
Barro "definitely played the way we need him to, especially to get a win after coming off two losses," James said. "Just having that down-low presence, the ability to get rebounds and block shots and just get those hustle plays, and that's what he did a few times for us that shifted the momentum of the game."
Hayward (14 points), Matthews (10) and junior guard Jerel McNeal (15), along with James, scored in double figures for Marquette. With 4:23 remaining in the first half, McNeal hit a free throw to give him 1,000 career points.
The Golden Eagles eventually wore down a DePaul offense that may have started out too quickly for its own good. Less than four minutes in, Matthews turned the ball over, and the Blue Demons went on a fast break.
DePaul guard Cliff Clinkscales tore down the court and then bounced the ball off the glass in anticipation of his trailing teammate, Dar Tucker. After being stuffed by the rim, Tucker could not finish the put-back and then fouled McNeal.
Given another opportunity to finish a fast-break dunk on the succeeding possession, Tucker did so without complication. As for capitalizing on second chances, DePaul was done for the night. Its largest lead was seven, and that proved not to be enough.
Marquette (14-4, 4-3 Big East) could not afford to drop its fourth game in six tries. It could not suffer through another night of dismal post play. It could not continue miss three-pointers at such an alarming rate. The Golden Eagles could not fall to DePaul for a second consecutive time.
So they didn't.
Barro proved—at least for one night—that he could be a viable option down low. Led by sophomore guard David Cubillan, the Golden Eagles ended up shooting 31.6 percent from beyond the arc. And Marquette made up for dropping a 72-67 decision at DePaul last February.
"We had a pretty bad week last week, but a lot of guys in the locker room knew we were going to bounce back," McNeal said. "The guys we got in that locker room, none of them had their heads low. We all stuck with it and stayed together the whole time, so I knew we were going to come out tonight, bounce back and get a win."
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