What a fitting game to kick off the new blog.
Today, sometime around 1:27 p.m., YOUR Marquette Golden Eagles will renew their death struggle with the Villanova Wildcats and their always nattily-dressed coach, Jay Wright. If the last three MU - 'Nova games are any indication of what's to come, get your Pepto / J&B 'n cola cocktail ready. You're gonna need it.
Join me after the jump for match-ups, wit, and wisdom:
In the last three meetings, 'Nova has gone all KALI MA on Marquette, thrice ripping our still-beating hearts from our chests. It started with the BEast tourney quarterfinals last year, as a Dom James-less MU battled back from a double-digit deficit only to lose on backdoor layup at the buzzer. More recently, back in January, Scottie Reynolds knifed the Eagles with a clutch jumper at the Bradley Center, and then, a few days later, Marquette again battled back from a huge deficit against the Wildcats, only to fall short.
Marquette comes into the game riding a one-game winning streak, and the boys had to fire a lot of bullets to nail down the victory against St. John's. We'll see how much the Eagles have in the tank today; hopefully, they don't pull a Seton Hall and put up half as many points as they did in their tourney opener.
'Nova, on the other hand, has been off since Saturday's loss to West Virginia. They'll likely come out with both barrels blazin', so it's key to weather the storm. Also: Scottie Reynolds needs to graduate. He's been a thorn in our paw for about twelve years now. (Congratulations on the multiple graduate-level degrees, though, Scott.)
The leaders for each team:
MARQUETTE
Points: Lazar Hayward, 18.1 ppg; Jimmy Butler, 14.8 ppg; Darius Johnson-Odom, 12.7 ppg
Boards: Lazar Hayward, 7.9 rpg; Jimmy Butler, 6.4 rpg; Joe Fulce, 3.2 rpg
Assists: Maurice Acker,3.7 apg; David Cubillan, 2.8 apg; Dwight Buycks, 2.3. apg
VILLANOVA
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Points: Dr. Scottie Reynolds 18.8 ppg; Corey Fisher, 13.6 ppg; Antonio Pena, 10.8 ppg
Boards: Antonio Pena, 7.4 rpg; Taylor King, 5.8 rpg; Reggie Redding, 4.7 rpg
Assists: Corey Fisher, 4.0 apg; Scottie Reynolds, PhD, 3.4 apg; Reggie Redding, 2.6 apg
Enjoy the game, and bring me home a winner.