Marquette held its own for much of its road matchup against No. 20 Ohio State Buckeyes on Tuesday night, but came up short, as Ohio State prevailed by a 74-63 tally. Here are five key lessons learned from Marquette’s first of several measuring bar games during the non-conference schedule.
Marquette can compete
They might have let the game get away from them in the final 10 minutes, but the Golden Eagles fought hard against a far better Buckeyes team in a tough road environment. Ohio State started the game shooting 7-of-8 from 3-point land. A couple of missed threes here and there could have altered the game. Marquette’s perimeter defense was shoddy, but the Golden Eagles did force 13 first half turnovers.
Marquette was not expected to beat Ohio State Tuesday night, but it was encouraging to see the team stay alive for most of the action. It was certainly better than last year’s outcome, a 52-35 loss to a stronger Ohio State team at home.
Taylor’s inside game
Steve Taylor Jr. opened some eyes with his offensive game in the frontcourt. Taylor scored a career-high 20 points and pulled down seven rebounds against a bigger Buckeye team. Marquette relied on him and dumped it down low quite often to try and beat Ohio State’s zone defense.
Taylor showed up last night and his performance on Tuesday night will need to be replicated on a consistent basis.
Perimeter shooting still a problem
Ohio State shot lights out throughout Tuesday’s matchup and Marquette failed to counter. The Buckeyes shot 65.3 percent from the field, compared to just 46 percent from the Golden Eagles. The teams hit the same amount of 3-pointers, eight, but Marquette took 23 attempts from downtown.
Graduate student Matt Carlino was the only guard to score in double figures, but he did so on 3-of-9 shooting. This could be an interesting trend to keep an eye on for the BYU transfer. Last season at BYU, Carlino averaged 13 points per game, but on 39 percent shooting. The numbers show Carlino is a scorer by volume and his scoring may come at an inefficient rate.
Lack of depth will be pivotal
Marquette was tired at the end of Tuesday night’s game and this trend should continue throughout the season. With only four players on the bench for Marquette until the first semester concludes, coach Steve Wojciechowski will have his hands full trying to keep players fresh. Carlino logged 38 minutes, Taylor played 35 and Jajuan Johnson played 31. Juan Anderson was not far off with 28 minutes and every player except Deonte Burton played at least 16 minutes.
Interestingly, sophomore John Dawson did not see the floor on Tuesday night. His playing time will be something to keep an eye on going forward.
Sandy Cohen III can play
Freshman Sandy Cohen III played pretty well in his first action against a quality opponent. Cohen had nine points on 60 percent shooting with three rebounds and two assists. He earned his second career start and played 20 minutes. Cohen looked like he belonged on the floor despite being a true freshman. He should be a fixture in the starting lineup as his game continues to develop.
