The Quick & The Dirty: Marquette 104, IUPUI 79

Haanif Cheatham led all scorers with 22 points as five Golden Eagles scored in double digits to power a 104-79 Marquette victory over IUPUI on Tuesday night.

After things not going very well for Marquette at the 2K Classic main event at Madison Square Garden, head coach Steve Wojciechowski shook up his starting lineup for this 2K Classic regional game. All three seniors - Jajuan Johnson, Katin Reinhardt, and Luke Fischer - were sent to the bench to start the game after Wojo was not pleased with their collective efforts in Friday’s loss to Pittsburgh. They were replaced by Triple H: Sam Hauser, Markus Howard, and Matt Heldt, although it didn’t last long. Fischer replaced Heldt after a foul at the 17:15 mark, and the other three made their way in at the 15:38 mark, with MU trailing 12-11.

And then Marquette went on a 20-5 run and IUPUI’s spirit was broken with 29 minutes to play. It would turn into a 21 point lead at the 4:40 mark of the first half, and with 7:57 left in the game, MU had eventually pushed the margin to 30. I could mire you down with the details of how this happened, but do you really care? I barely care, and I’m the one in charge of this recap.

Cheatham ended up as the high scorer, but it was Reinhardt and Duane Wilson who might have had the two best outings for the Golden Eagles. After attempting just four free throws in Marquette’s first four games, Reinhardt started taking it to the rim and ended up at the charity stripe eight times in the first half here. He made all of his attempts for half of his 16 points on the evening, and the grad transfer from USC added five rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Wilson quietly shredded the Jaguars with both his shooting (5-6, 2-3 from long range) and his passing (a game high six assists) and found time for two rebounds and three steals as well. Wilson seemed like a calming and reliable influence on the team for the full 21 minutes he played on the night, and efforts like this one will go a long way towards helping Marquette later this season.

Up Next: After a brief break for Thanksgiving, the Golden Eagles will be back in action on Saturday night when they host Houston Baptist. The Huskies are 0-2 on the season against Division 1 foes, and neither of those games were particularly close.