Marquette picked up its third win of the season in sloppy fashion against the Robert Morris Colonials Saturday afternoon. Here’s a quick breakdown of the 66-62 victory:
Game MVP: Sophomore forward Brendan Bailey finished with a season-high 10 points, one point shy of his career-high 11 points against Georgetown March 9. Besides shooting 4-for-8 from the field and 2-for-3 from beyond the arc, he also contributed five rebounds, three assists and one block.
“He would be the first to tell you that he could have played better to open the season,” head coach Steve Wojciechowski said. “He was huge for us this afternoon, and it was good to see that lid come off the basket for him. I also thought he did some good things defensively as well.”
When the Golden Eagles jumped out to a 9-0 run to begin the second half, Bailey scored seven of those nine points.
“Brendan’s been one of those guys … who’s been struggling a little bit,” redshirt senior Sacar Anim said. “It’s good to get Brendan going. He’s out there making threes and driving and getting those dunks. That’s electric plays for us and gets all of us going. I’m very happy for Brendan, he played a great game tonight.”
KEY STATS:
- Marquette and Robert Morris combined for just seven shots in the first four minutes of play.
- In the first eight minutes, Marquette had just three field goals but had five turnovers.
- By the end of the first half, there were 19 total turnovers between both teams. MU had 21 total turnovers, and RMU had 13.
- Robert Morris scored 21 points off the Golden Eagles’ 21 turnovers.
- The Golden Eagles had 28 points in the paint.
- The Colonials’ bench contributed 20 points.
- While Marquette recorded six blocks, Robert Morris had nine steals.
NOTES:
- This win was Wojciechowski’s 100th at the helm of Marquette men’s basketball.
- The Golden Eagles sported their Nike N7 turquoise jerseys and shorts to support Native American Heritage Month. The Nike N7 Fund, created in 2000 by Sam McCracken, helps “provide access to Nike products directly to Native American tribes to support health promotion and disease prevention programs.”
- Nineteen points is the lowest-scoring first half in Milwaukee since Dec. 6, 2014, when the Golden Eagles scored just 15 points in the 49-38 loss to the Wisconsin Badgers. MU also scored 19 points in the second half of its 70-52 loss to Xavier Feb. 10, 2015.
- In the first half, Markus Howard did not score a single point and had two turnovers and two fouls in eight minutes on the floor. He ended with 11 total points, and a 3-pointer with 13:53 remaining was his first field goal of the day. In his collegiate career, Howard has only had 23 games — 13 of those coming during his first season in 2016-17 — with fewer than 11 points.
- Redshirt sophomore Greg Elliott tied a career-high six rebounds.
- Saturday’s win was Marquette’s first matchup against Robert Morris in program history.
INJURY REPORT:
Jayce Johnson scored his first points since transferring to Marquette on a layup at the 6:32 mark in the first half.
In five minutes of play, Johnson also recorded four rebounds and one personal foul.
“He’s still on minute restrictions in practice,” Wojciechowski said. “That’s going to take a little time until he’s back to 100%. He’s still a couple weeks away from being able to practice for a whole practice. But we’re trying to get him at least a little bit of experience within the minute restriction.”
NEXT UP: Marquette (3-1) heads to the Orlando Invitational this weekend. The Golden Eagles face Davidson College, the alma mater of Golden State Warriors star guard Stephen Curry, Thursday at 5:30 p.m. ESPN2 and ESPNU will stream the game.
Wojciechowski’s squad will then take on either University of Southern California or Fairfield University.
This story was written by Zoe Comerford. She can be reached at [email protected] and on Twitter @zoe_comerford.
