Rowsey on fire
Andrew Rowsey didn’t need much time to get going. The redshirt junior missed his first shot but drained his next three, all of which were 3-pointers, to lead a 21-2 Marquette run in the middle of the first half. He drew a foul on a 3-point attempt for the fourth straight game and scored 20 points on just eight shots. Such things have suddenly become routine for the 5-foot-10 offensive wizard, but Rowsey’s play of late has been astonishing.
Luke Fischer, rim protector?
“I thought Luke’s protection of our rim, particularly in the second half, was critical to us winning,” head coach Steve Wojciechowski said.
Saturday was not a good day to drive to the hoop against Luke Fischer. He posted a career high seven blocks, providing a desperately needed defensive presence around the rim.
The highlight of the blocks came in the middle of the second half, when the senior’s emphatic swat sent the ball all the way back to mid-court. Fischer even impressed himself with that particular block.
“This might have been the first (time I’ve done that),” Fischer said.
Defense optional
In seven of the last eight games the Golden Eagles have allowed their opponents to score 72 points or more, with the exception being DePaul, who scored just 58 points when they visited the Bradley Center earlier this season. Saturday’s poor defensive outing made that eight out of nine. The Blue Demons put up 79 points on 46.8 percent shooting from the floor. The BIG EAST bottom-feeders were able to keep pace with Marquette for most of the second half, until Fischer’s blocks turned into points the other way.
“Our defense has to get better,” Wojciechowski said. “That’s the theme everybody has.”
“We traded baskets with them and that’s not a good formula.”
Skid stopper
After Marquette’s frustrating loss at St. John’s Wednesday a number of players called Saturday’s DePaul game a “must win.” A loss to the last placed team in the BIG EAST after losses to two other teams with losing conference records would have sent Marquette reeling for the NIT bubble. Instead, they stabilized things with a solid win, righting the ship before a big home game against a ranked Butler team.
“Coming off those two losses everybody on the team, we knew coming into this game we weren’t going to lose,” Rowsey said. “We knew coming into this game we had to take care of business and we did.”
Cheatham bringing the offense
For just the second time since conference play began, Haanif Cheatham took 10 shots. The sophomore guard had multiple 20-point games in nonconference play, but has been passive on offense for most of conference play. After showing a big of aggression on Wednesday at St. John’s he took another step forward on Saturday when he went 4-for-10, finishing a few tough layups in the process. He added eight rebounds and four assists to round out a pleasantly plump box score.
“When Haney’s at his best he’s a guy who can stuff a stat sheet,” Wojciechowski said. “He doesn’t have the offensive explosiveness of some of our other guys, but he can impact the game in more ways.”
Best stat line
Luke Fischer: 13 points on 6-for-8 shooting, eight rebounds, seven blocks
Stat of the night
Andrew Rowsey scored 22 points in 19 minutes
Up next
Marquette hosts No. 16 Butler Tuesday night at 8 p.m. The Bulldogs are coming off a home loss to No. 22 Creighton.
