Marquette showed plenty of resolve following its loss to DePaul in Wednesday’s Big East opener. The Golden Eagles are tied 33-33 at halftime with the Providence Friars, one of the better teams in the conference.
Freshman Sandy Cohen had an impressive first half with 12 points on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting, including two 3-point baskets. Cohen picked up two fouls in the first half. Providence (11-3, 1-0) is led by LaDontae Henton, who has 11 points, but on 3-of-10 shooting.
The Golden Eagles have generated 11 turnovers, but are allowing Providence to shoot 50 percent from the floor. Providence is also 5-of-9 from beyond the arc.
Seniors Derrick Wilson and Juan Anderson are the next leading scorers with six points apiece. Wilson has exhibited some confidence in his ability to drive the lane and is 3-of-4 from the floor. Luke Fischer has been held in check, as he has just two points on 1-of-3 shooting with only two rebounds. Marquette is winning the rebounding battle 16-12, however. Marquette has eight offensive rebounds to Providence’s three.
Marquette has played a 2-3 zone defensively, which has given Providence trouble at times. Providence faced two scoring droughts of at least three minutes in the first half, but made up for it with impressive shooting.
Marquette clearly isn’t in letdown mode despite the upset loss against DePaul, but will need to find a way to get Fischer involved in the offense. Twenty-five of Marquette’s 33 points have come from its guards, which will need to change if Marquette wants to pull out a bounce-back upset over the Friars.
