ROSEMONT, ILLINOIS – Marquette avoided a disastrous and tournament bid threatening week, ending its two-game losing streak with a 92-79 victory at DePaul.
“We were knocked back after those two games,” head coach Steve Wojciechowski said. “Our guys are human. You’re going to maybe not be as confident. I thought our guys bounced back really well today.”
“We knew coming into this game we weren’t going to lose,” guard Andrew Rowsey said. “We had that mindset.”
It was a peak outing for the Golden Eagles offensively, as the team shot a season-high 14 3-pointers. Rowsey, Katin Reinhardt and Markus Howard led the way in that respect, shooting 5-for-6, 3-for-4 and 3-for-5 from deep, respectively.
“We shared the ball and the ball was finding the best shot on the possessions,” Wojciechowski said. “When we get open shots we have good shooters.”
That created space inside for Luke Fischer, who was able to back down DePaul’s shorter big men. He scored 13 points on 6-for-8 shooting.
Even with his offensive efficiency, he was more dominant on the defensive end. He blocked seven shots, a new career high and one block away from a tie for second place in Marquette’s program record book.
The Golden Eagles started the game in a rut, falling behind 14-7 in the first six minutes thanks largely to three turnovers. That’s when Wojciechowski made a line change, swapping Howard, Jajuan Johnson, Sam Hauser and Fischer for Rowsey, Duane Wilson, Katin Reinhardt and Matt Heldt.
The second unit found a groove, going on an 18-0 run in under five minutes. The Golden Eagles spread the ball out well during the stretch. Rowsey scored six points, Haanif Cheatham scored five, Reinhardt and Wilson scored three and Heldt two before DePaul ended its drought with an Eli Cain jumper.
“At times they were playing better than the guys we were starting,” Wojciechowski said. “We wanted to get a group in there to give us energy, and they gave us more than that. They gave us the lead.”
DePaul hung around for a large chunk of the game despite shooting 59 percent from the field and 60 percent due to lackluster defense from the Golden Eagles in the second half.
“When offense is going, you think it’s just going to go,” Wojciechowski said. “You think we’re just going to score. That’s a very dangerous thing to do and I thought we had that look about us. We’re playing really well offensively. I think we’re in a groove offensively. Maybe we don’t have to bear down.”
“We’ve just got to be more connected,” Fischer said. “It all comes down to talking on defense.”
Fittingly, the Golden Eagles put DePaul away with their 3-point shooting. Rowsey and Johnson hit threes 36 seconds apart, and Reinhardt followed with two of his own to make it 85-69 with 2:33 remaining.
Rowsey finished with 22 points, with four other Golden Eagles scoring in the double digits. Cheatham scored 15, Fischer and Howard each had 13 and Reinhardt scored 11.
Marquette now turns its attention to Butler, a team Marquette blew an 18-point lead to on the road earlier in the season.
“Obviously this past week wasn’t ideal for us,” Fischer said. “We still put ourselves in a great position. Now we have a game against Butler where we’re looking to get revenge from.”
