Marquette won the battle of the boards on its way to an 84-64 victory over No. 13 Seton Hall. Here are the floor slaps from MU’s first ranked win in almost a year:
BATTLE OF THE BOARDS GOES TO MU’S BIG MEN
Coming into the game, Seton Hall was one of the most dangerous teams in the country, primarily because of its athletic guards and ability to dominate the boards. This was not the case tonight, as Marquette won the rebounding battle 38-33, including out-rebounding the Pirates 12-8 on the offensive glass.
While senior Angel Delgado achieved his 64th double-double of his career with a 12-point, 1o-rebound effort, Marquette big men Matt Heldt and Theo John limited the big man and fellow Pirates center Ismael Sanogo. Heldt scored nine points and grabbed seven boards, including two on the offensive glass.
“(Delgado) is as good of a big man as there is in the country, so that was definitely a focus for our team,” Heldt said. “When he caught it, Sam was able to double (team), we wanted to double, try to get the ball into his hands and then if not, I just really had to work (hard) try to get him to make it tougher, and don’t (sic) let him get any offensive rebounds.”
Sophomore Sam Hauser led Marquette with eight points. The Golden Eagles had a 12-8 advantage in offensive rebounds.
FASTBREAK, POINTS OFF OF TURNOVERS LEADS TO SEPARATION
Marquette shut down Seton Hall’s post presence, resulting in 12 Seton Hall turnovers and 18 Marquette points off those turnovers.
Seventeen fastbreak points and six points off turnovers helped Marquette capture an early lead, allowing the Golden Eagles to focus on rebounding.
“(Seton Hall) feeds off of transition rebounding,” Heldt said. “It was a real focus. If we could keep them only to have one shot, and then that would give us an advantage, and transition and they would end up fouling us.”
By the end of the game, Seton Hall simply could not keep up with Marquette’s pace and run-and-gun style offense.
QUOTE OF THE NIGHT
“It was a team effort. The entire group had to come up with boards, and our guys did that,” Marquette head coach Steve Wojciechowski said. “When you’re getting those types of defensive rebounds and numbers from your guards, that really helps out our big guys.”
STAT OF THE NIGHT
Marquette scored 17 points off second-chance opportunities, compared to Seton Hall’s five.
UP NEXT
The Golden Eagles will travel to Indianapolis, Indiana, where they will square off against Butler Friday night. Tipoff is at 5:30 p.m. CST.
