Ok, here's one for ya. Stop me if you've heard this before:

So there's this basketball team, right. And they come out and start the game looking really, really awful. But then... Oh, you've heard this one already? About how the team rights the ship, comes back, wins the game and the coach sweats through his shirt? Oh, well, let me tell it again, just in case there's anyone out there that hasn't heard it.

Yes folks they did again. YOUR Marquette Golden Eagles once again came out of the gates a little slow, in their Tuesday night matchup with the Seton Hall Pirates. It's almost as if the team held a meeting after blowing that lead at Georgetown and said, "Ok, from now on, if we're going to have a shitty half it's going to be the FIRST half!" Then we can only assume a vote was held and the motion carried, because in 7 of the next 8 games involved some sort of slow/sluggish/lackluster/inauspicious performance in the early part of the game. In previous games that has resulted in MU having to overcome significant first half deficits. Luckily, tonight they were only playing Seton Hall and got down by just 11.

Turnovers and sloppiness ruled the day in the first half. Marquette committed 5 turnovers in the first 5 minutes of the game, and 11 in the half. Seton Hall wasn't much better, committing 9 turnovers of their own. The Pirates shot just 39% in the first and missed out on a chance to really bury MU in the early going. Marquette followed the familiar pattern of relative horrendousness, followed by stabilizing and then putting together a run that gets them back into the game. For most fans in attendance, only being down 30-26 at the half seemed like a minor victory.

Once again, the momentum that MU had generated late in the first half carried over into the second. They kept Seton Hall within about 4 points until Junior Cadougan found Vander Blue for a thunderous alley-oop dunk, that brought the Bradley Center crowd to life. From that point Marquette went on a 14-2 spurt that gave them the lead for the first time in the game - a lead they would never relinquish. The Hall tried to make a run, and actually made the fans start to squirm a bit when they got within 5 with 3:29 to play. But thanks to Herb Pope foul trouble and a crushing advantage from the free throw line, MU was able to put this one away.

More takes, numbers, and awards after this jump

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Unrelated: Marquette and Villanova played a basketball game and Marquette won by 4, 82-78. Thanks to loyal reader Joe McCann for providing us with a ticket from today's game.

But enough of that ridiculous basketball nonsense: You're here for more information about James Breeding!

Today was the 13th game that James Breeding refereed in the month of January, and all in just a 26 day span. This is what his travel itinerary has looked like (The starting point marked with A is on Newark, NJ and is hiding behind the J):

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Yeah, that doesn't look like a picnic, even if he is flying from city to city.

In any case, in the previous 12 games that he's refereed, Breeding issued 5 technical fouls. Apparently traveling over 10,000 miles makes a guy cranky, as Breeding issued THREE technical fouls during today's game between Marquette and Villanova. First, Villanova head coach Jay Wright was issued one after Maalk Wayns was called for an offensive foul in the first half. The Wildcats were winning 23-9 at the time. This set Jay Wright off on such a temper tantrum that ESPN2 stayed with the Wildcats head coach instead of showing Darius Johnson-Odom shooting the first of two free throws.

Then, 5 minutes of game time later, Marquette head coach Buzz Williams was whistled for a technical foul after Johnson-Odom picked up his first personal foul of the game with Marquette trailing 33-23. Buzz reacted to DJO's foul by either A) falling backwards to the ground or B) losing his balance and falling to the ground. This was a grave offense to James Breeding.

After the first half ended with Breeding and his striped compatriots issuing 27 personal fouls (one every 44.4 seconds!), the players must have figured out how the referees wanted the game called, as only 20 were whistled in the second half. But with 6:14 remaining, Wayns uttered a profanity because he thought the referees blew a call. Breeding looked right at Wayns and issued his third technical foul of the game. DJO drained both free throws to start MU off on a 17-9 run to end the game and clinch the victory.

Oh, you wanted discussion of the basketball game? James Breeding will be so disappointed in you. Let's go after the jump for more.

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Forty good minutes. Two good halves. A solid performance on both ends of the floor. One complete game.

That's what Marquette fans, coaches, and players have been looking for over the past few weeks. Frustrated by inconsistency, lost leads, slow starts and simple lapses in the last several games, people have been waiting for the game when the Golden Eagles would put it all together. Well kids, it is with great pleasure that I am here to say that Tuesday's game against the South Florida Bulls was that game.

Marquette came out looking to establish the big man right away. They fed the ball to Davante Gardner on each of their first few trips down the floor, and Big Smooth delivered by scoring the Golden Eagles' first 6 points of the game. But despite Davante's efforts, South Florida was able to hit just enough jumpers to hang around in the early going.

With 4 minutes to play in the half it was an 18-15 game, and it appeared that USF was going to extend their streak of 16 straight games of holding their opponent under 30 points in the first half. But a 3-pointer by Darius Johnson-Odom sparked a late surge that would put Marquette in the driver seat. A Jamil Wilson 3-pointer, a pair of Todd Mayo free throws, and a tip dunk by Wilson as the horn sounded gave MU a 7-0 spurt over the last minute of the half and a 33-21 lead.

The momentum of that little run, and the baskets that preceded it, carried over into the second half. In the first 1:30 of the half, Jae Crowder hit a deuce, Davante made a free throw, and DJO drained a triple to extend the Marquette advantage to 39-22 and prompt Stan Heath to call a timeout to try and stop the bleeding. But Stan's talk did little to turn the tide. Missed shots and turnovers by USF led to run-outs and baskets for Marquette. The Bulls would never draw closer than 15 the rest of the way, the Blue and Gold cruised to victory 67-47.

Bullet points and awards after the jump

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After a highly successful 3-0 home stand, and a full 4 days off, YOUR Marquette Golden Eagles hit the road this weekend. They traveled to the great state of Rhode Island, to take on the Providence Friars at the Dunkin Donuts Center (recently supplanted by the KFC Yum Center as the most ridiculously named arena in the Big East). Providence came in losers of 5 of their last 6 games, looking for their second conference win of the season.

The slow start syndrome that has been plaguing Marquette in their last few contests threatened to rear its ugly head in the early going of this one. After trading baskets in the first few minutes, the Friars went on a quick 11-2 run to go up 14-6. But a rare, early timeout by Buzz Williams helped stem the tide, and Marquette responded with a 20-3 run of their own over the next 7 minutes. Providence would counter the MU run and ended up leading 40-39 at the half

After recess the two squads traded baskets at an alarming pace in the early going and threatened to turn this game into a true track meet. The pace eventually slowed and Marquette was able to put some distance between themselves and the Friars. Davante Gardner emerged from a foul induced slumber to knock down a bucket that extended the lead to 68-60, with 7 minutes to play. MU was in control from then on. They eventually pushed the lead as high as 13 points, before putzing around for the last 2 minutes and winning by 7.

Thoughts, takes and awards just on the other side of this jump

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First 5-0, then 18-2. Those are the leads that the Louisville Cardinals opened up in the first 6 minutes against Marquette during their matinee contest today.

But everything starts somewhere. After a media time out, Darius Johnson-Odom hit a layup, Chane Behanan turned the ball over, and DJO hit a 3. VOLUME SHOOTER Russ Smith (8-20 on the day) hit a jumper, but Todd Mayo came back down and canned a 3. Just like that, the lead was down to 10. 4 minutes later, Marquette was rolling on a 9-0 run and the lead was down to 4.

But Louisville regained their composure and started to hold MU off. They'd hit a couple, Marquette would hit a couple, and we started to wonder if this is how it would go the rest of the game.

Then Mayo hit a three under the 4 minute mark, Davante Gardner got a SWEET stutter step dribble and a floater in the lane to fall and then got fouled after MU made a stop. Ox went 2-2 from the line - he didn't miss any of his 7 FT attempts in the game - and like that, BOOM, tie game at 30. Marquette had gone on a 28-12 run in 11:31. 2 more buckets by the good guys and they took a 4 point lead into the half.

Yep. That was my reaction. So, what to expect in the second half? Join me after the jump, and we'll continue.

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So by now we all know what happened Saturday afternoon. YOUR Marquette Golden Eagles, of course, helped the Pitt Panthers' stunning death spiral continue with a 62-57 win at the Bradley Center. The win improves Marquette to 3-2 in the Big East and puts them squarely in the mosh pit that is the middle of the conference standings.

I won't take your time with a blow by blow recap. Suffice it to say, there was a lot to like (coming from behind, ramped up 2nd half defense, solid games out of both Jae Crowder and Darius Johnson-Odom, etc.) and there was plenty to dislike (Another slow start, 9 first half turnovers, allowing Ashton Gibbs to shoot the lights out, etc.). In the end it was an ugly MU win, which I will take over a beautifully played loss EVERY TIME.

So if you're interested in one quick glance back at the win, before looking ahead to Louisville, then jump with me.

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Another game, another Jekyll and Hyde performance for your Marquette Golden Eagles. This time, the good guys showed up in the second half and absolutely blew the doors off the St. John's Red Storm.

Let's get the first half out the way first. Jae Crowder continued to find foul trouble with a foul only 24 seconds into the game. After his second foul at the 16:42 mark, it was back to the bench for the Absolut Weapon.

With Crowder on the bench, Marquette struggled to defend down low, giving up multiple deep touches to God'sgift Achiuwa and Moe Harkless. Davante Gardner was also getting lost on high screens and St John's had multiple easy looks at the bucket. Fortunately for MU, the Johnnies missed on multiple no-footers and couldn't extend the lead.

Marquette led 12-11 when Darius Johnson-Odom went to the bench with his second foul. It was officially "uh-oh" time for Marquette fans. St. John's seized the opportunity and spun off an 8-0 run to take an 18-12 before the cavalry returned.

Marquette steadied for the rest of the half, getting 14 points from Davante Gardner as Crowder and DJO rotated out of the game to protect against a third foul. When all was said and done, St. John's held a 32-31 lead at the break.

The fun second half recap and awards after the jump!

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The Big East gauntlet continued today for YOUR Marquette Golden Eagles as they traveled to the Carrier Dome to take on the undefeated and No. 1 ranked Syracuse Orange. As one of the more optimistic contributors to this blog, even I had to poke a hole in my usually half full glass prior to this game. In my opinion, the Orange have one of the most complete teams in the NCAA and are bigger, playing better, and deeper than the Golden Eagles. Throw in the fact that Syracuse was out to avenge their second round loss to Marquette in last year's NCAA tournament, this had all the makings of a Marquette blood bath and my expectations were very low.

As painful as Marquette's second half performance versus Georgetown on Wednesday was, the first half of today's game may have been worse. Syracuse dominated the first half of action and lead by as many as 23 points before taking a 37-19 lead into the half. Marquette made things interesting in the second half and cut the lead to 2. However, the 18 point half time lead was too much to overcome and Marquette dropped its second consecutive game and 4th out of the last 6. Marquette now stands at 12-4 overall, 1-2 in the Big East.

At the end of the day, these last 2 road losses to Georgetown and Syracuse will not go down as bad losses. However, the final scores of these games don't tell the whole story. In each game, one half of the game was marred by serious defensive lapses and long stretches of offensive struggles, while the other half proved that Marquette has the ability to play with anyone in the country. Marquette hasn't played a complete game since the upset victory over the Badgers in the Kohl Center in Madison and today was no different.

The tale of 2 halves and game awards after the jump.

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