For the third time this season, Marquette got off to a slow start against a team from Illinois, but once again, the Golden Eagles used second half push to grab a 79-70 win against Northern Illinois. Here are the floor slaps from Monday’s victory:
MIXED RESULTS ON DEFENSE
Marquette allowed Northern Illinois to rebound the ball at a 50 percent rate. The Huskies missed 34 shots, but 17 of them resulted in another Northern Illinois possession. Prior to this evening, the highest offensive rebounding rate Marquette allowed in a single game was 36 percent against Virginia Commonwealth.
The most egregious case of Marquette failing to box out came near the end of the first half. With Marquette up only two, freshman Theo John blocked a Dante Thorpe jumper. This set off a sequence where NIU grabbed four offensive rebounds in 10 seconds before Marquette finally regained possession.
“I thought defensively, we did some good things,” head coach Steve Wojciechowski said. “We held them to 38 percent shooting and 30 percent from the 3-point line. We have to defensively rebound better, obviously, apparently, we need to play without fouling a lot better.”
The game may have turned out differently if the Huskies could capitalize on all the extra opportunities, but they couldn’t. Seventeen offensive rebounds turned into just 10 second-chance points. Overall, Northern Illinois shot just 38.2 percent from the field, which is the lowest of any Marquette opponent this season. Marquette held Northern Illinois without a field goal for over seven minutes in the second half.
FROLING PLAYS SPARINGLY IN DEBUT
There was a lot of pregame buzz surrounding sophomore center Harry Froling, who was finally eligible to play after a mandatory redshirt period following a transfer from SMU.
By the end of the evening, Froling was a footnote in the final box score. He played just three minutes and logged two rebounds, one assist and a turnover.
His most notable sequence came just after checking in for the first time with 13:52 to go in the first half. Froling had an interior pass intercepted by Anastasios Demogerontas of NIU but redeemed himself on the other end by grabbing a missed shot and drawing a foul.
Sophomore guard Markus Howard said he’s convinced Froling will make an impact and breaking him in slowly will be beneficial.
“There’s a little bit of rust that needs to be worked off,” Howard said. “He’s gonna get it … he’s going to be a great player for us, no doubt about that.”
FOUL-A-PALOOZA
Marquette and Northern Illinois combined for 47 fouls, the highest total of the season. Additionally, the Huskies shot 25-33 from the charity stripe, or 76 percent.
It was the most attempts Marquette surrendered all season. On the other end, Markus Howard continued his perfect streak of free throws, shooting 9 for 9 from the charity stripe. He has made his last 45 free throws dating back to last March against Creighton.
QUOTE OF THE NIGHT
“We certainly hope and pray for the best for the kid because you know, Andrew is quietly having a hell of a senior year and I don’t want anything bad to happen to him.” -Wojo on the status of senior guard Andrew Rowsey after his second half injury.
STAT OF THE NIGHT
Marquette had 10 blocks on the evening, the most in a single game for Marquette since Jan. 21, 2015 against St. John’s.
UP NEXT
Marquette’s final non-conference game will come on Thursday against American. The Eagles (3-7) came off of a three-point loss to Mount Saint Mary’s Monday evening.
