Say Whaaaaaaat: #20 Marquette 96, #24 DePaul 63

Ranked co-favorite in the Big East, second straight game without Allazia Blockton due to an ankle injury, nationally televised game on FS1....

There was a lot of stuff floating around in the air as #20 Marquette tipped off against #24 DePaul on Friday night, and I don’t just mean the echoes of the longest ever slow to fast Ring Out Ahoya thanks to the TV production dragging things out a while.

In the end, it didn’t matter. Heck, in the beginning, it didn’t matter.

After DePaul opened the game up with a three-pointer from Mart’e Grays, Marquette went on an 18-2 run to bust this contest wide open in the first seven minutes and the Golden Eagles never looked back on their way to a 96-63 victory. Marquette led 29-9 at the end of the first quarter, 48-30 at the end of the second, and a whopping 74-40 at the end of the third. This thing was a one sided asskicking from the jump, and that’s all there was to it.

Let’s play a fun game, shall we? It’s called “Who had the best/most fun stat line?”

• Amani Wilborn: 20 points on 9-for-16 shooting, including 2-for-5 from behind the arc, six rebounds, five assists.
• Danielle King: 19 points on 6-for-10 shooting, including 1-for-3 from behind the arc, six rebounds, two assists, two steals.
• Selena Lott: 11 points on 4-for-6 shooting, including 2-4 from behind the arc, seven rebounds, five assists, a block, and two steals.
• Chloe Marotta: 7 points on 3-for-4 shooting, two rebounds, one steal, all in just seven mintues
• Natisha Hiedeman: 32 points on 12-for-25 shooting, including 5-for-13 from behind the arc, eight rebounds, six assists, six steals.

I will accept arguments for everyone on the list, and on some level, I am holding a lack of blocks against Hiedeman because getting to see a fabled 5x5 in person would have been super badass.

Marquette is now 3-0 in Big East play after their only game of the weekend. The only other 3-0 team in the league is Butler, and the Bulldogs will host St. John’s on Sunday with a chance to take a half-game lead in the standings. DePaul drops to 1-2, and even though they were the co-favorites in the preseason with Marquette, they’re now two back in the loss column.

How about some highlights, courtesy of FS1 and GoMarquette.com?

Up Next: Marquette takes the show on the road next weekend. They’ll visit Villanova on Friday morning for what has to be a local school kids game for the Wildcats before heading to Georgetown for a Sunday afternoon tilt.