Rebounding: Marquette 89, Mississippi State 62

Here's how Marquette's first possessions ended: turnover, turnover, turnover, turnover, missed jumper.

That's the bad news. The good news is that by the time the under 16 minute TV timeout rolled around, the Golden Eagles were up 8-0, and the even better news is that by the midway point of the first half, it was 25-10.

Recapping this one turn by turn is pointless, because I've finished the important turns of the game already. Mississippi State had eight guys available to play in this game and only 6 of them have scholarships, so once Marquette jumped out to a lead with Buzz more than happy to play all 11 scholarship players, this one was academic.

How about some notes?

• Hey, how about that Vander Blue kid? 8 of 14 for 18 points, including 2-3 on three pointers, plus three assists and a steal, all in just 24 minutes. After the last 24 hours, it really looks like the light has gone on/game has slowed down for him/insert your own suitable metaphor here.
• Good Thing: Jake Thomas drained all three shots he took, all from behind the arc. Bad Thing: Thomas committed four fouls in just 10 minutes of game time, and Buzz nailed him to the bench with 15 minutes left in the game.
• Every single scholarship player not only played for MU, but everyone also got at least one made field goal AND one steal.
• The combination of Chris Otule and Davante Gardner posted 23 points and 20 rebounds, including 12 of Marquette's 15 offensive boards. Just sayin'.
• I said at halftime that MU could not continue to turn the ball over on more than 25% of their possessions as they had 11 turnovers in 40.9 possessions in the first half. Second half turnover total: 1.

Jae Crowder Player Of The Game: I'm just going to keep naming Vander Blue POTG until someone wrestles the title from his hands.

Joe Fulce Undersung Eagle Of The Game: I'm going to go with Jamil Wilson on this one. Wilson lost his starting spot after two straight lackluster outings and he responded to the wake up call: 11 points, four rebounds, four blocks, one assist and one steal.

Davante "Big Smooth" Gardner Smooth Play Of The Game: Hey, let's combine the first two awards! Early in the second half, Blue drove into the lane under control and drew defenders to him. This left Jamil Wilson alone along the baseline. Wilson went under the basket for the reverse layup and drew a foul for the and 1.

Math:

eFG%: MU - 57.0% Miss St. - 43.3%

TO%: MU - 16.6% Miss St. - 31.0%

Off. Reb%: MU - 51.7% Miss St. - 45.2%

FT Rate: MU - 12.7% Miss St. - 44.2%

While the win is great, it's nice to know that Buzz will have something to point out as something to work on with MU getting only 9 free throws compared to their 71 field goal attempts.

Up Next: Marquette gets the winner of the USC-Texas game that's still underway as I type this. That game will be tomorrow at 4pm Central time.