Before we get to the links, a couple of quick thoughts on last night's bludgeoning:
Sometimes, the reasons a team loses a game are complex.
Marquette's loss to Georgetown in the semifinals of the Big East Tournament does not fall into that category.
To sum up, in ten words: They're really, really tall. And we looked really, really tired.
Fine, it's probably not that simple, but it ain't far off: we couldn't stay in front of Georgetown off the dribble, we were completely overmatched on the boards, they executed their offense very well while Marquette, too often, stood around waiting for someone -- DJO, Jimmy, 'Zar -- to create on his own. Alas, Georgetown's defenders stayed on our boys like a pair of nuthuggers on a mustachioed West Allis bachelor.
In the end, Marquette got rope-a-doped: GU jumped out to an early lead, and Marquette had to spend the little gas that was left in the tanks to catch up. Then, with about 10 minutes left in the second half, Marquette's legs checked their baggage and boarded the plane at JFK. We were gassed, Georgetown saw it, and, as you'd expect a good team to do, they stepped on our throats.
While Georgetown moves on to face Track Suit Bob in the BEast finals, Marquette returns home and we enter the "IT'S ALL GRAVY" portion of the season. Two wins in the BEast Tourney, coupled with the Dance berth that those wins secured, cements this season as a great (and entirely unexpected) success. Nothing that happens in the tournament can change that. That's a pretty good feeling.
Some brief Saturday afternoon linkage, after the jump:
From Todd Rosiak's recap in the Journal Sentinel:
The Golden Eagles enter the NCAAs having won 11 of their last 14 games and, of course, having been beaten by double digits just once. With all the roster "deficiencies", as coach Buzz Williams would say, that this team has, that's really an amazing statistic.
Tim Blair from Cracked Sidewalks breaks down the three BEast tourney games like Chris Wright broke down our boys off the dribble:
Three games in three days at the Big East Tournament brings to light the strengths and weaknesses of any team fortunate enough to advance. For the Marquette Warriors life in the spotlight was productive, taking home a 2-1 record including a much-needed signature win against Villanova.
MUTV Sports has video of Coach Buzz's post-game comments.
The Journal Sentinel also has an article about Marquette great Wes Matthews, who's following the Eagles' progress from afar:
"I'm happy for Marquette right now," he said before the Golden Eagles' Big East semifinal against Georgetown. "I'm texting (coach) Buzz (Williams) and the team all the time. It's just how hard they play. They're impressing me, but I knew they were going to be that way because I know how Coach Buzz is. I'm just proud more than anything."
Jeff Green's Dad from Casual Hoya gets all scatological on our ass:
Georgetown was so maddeningly inconsistent this year that it became consistent. That made sense in my head. Essentially, it became evident in February that Georgetown would win big games and lose games they deemed unworthy of their time, mostly due to lazy defense. Here's what the media hasn't picked up on yet, there is no more inconsistency. Georgetown comes to play in big games, and it's as simple as that. You should know what to do with them from now on. You should pick them to win. Everything. Understood?
Via The New York Times, JT3 notes his agreement with my ten-words-or-less assessment of the game:
"I think that [Marquette has] not had height all year," Georgetown Coach John Thompson III said. "So they do a very good job of not letting you just take advantage of them in the paint. We were able to do that today."
Brett McMurphy of FanHouse says JT3 isn't ready to call Greg Monroe one of the all-time greats at Georgetown, so I'll do it for him: dude's craaaaa-zee good:
"I think it's too early to give him that label," Thompson said. "But he's played well. I don't think he thinks about how he relates or compares or contrasts to the people that played the position here at Georgetown before him.
The loss to Georgetown dropped Marquette from the 7-line to the 9-line, at least in Bracketology 101's eyes:
The biggest declines were Michigan State going from a 3 to a 5, Maryland dropping from a 4 to a 5, and Marquette and Florida State going from 7s to 9s.
The Bracket Project splits the difference, and averages Marquette out as an 8 seed.
We'll do a final bracket projection round-up tomorrow morning-ish. Until then: get some rest. It's a whole new world tomorrow.