Marquette Overcomes Injuries and Stays Unbeaten from Al Kelly

MU 79 UWGB 61

Despite having only eight players available on Saturday night MU easily outclassed a young Green Bay team. Unfortunately I got so comfortable watching the game that I fell asleep with eleven minutes left in the first half never to wake again.

My impression of UWGB was that they were in big trouble if they really wanted to win the game. Three players stood out in my memory of those first few minutes.


Their center was very tall(7'1"), very skinny(220lbs), and white but had a good hook shot and could rebound.

They had a backup guard who looked like a midget more than a basketball player. He was listed at 5'4" and 140lbs but actually looked even smaller. Vander Blue stole the ball from him while standing behind him and actually leaning over the top of him without fouling and knocked the ball away while he was dribbling.

The third memorable player was their power forward/offensive tackle(6'9" 265lbs+) who was playing basketball instead of football because he hadn't been in a weight room in the last six months (or six years).

I feel sorry for Brian Wardle a former Marquette player who is now Green Bay's coach but he did recruit these guys.

Anyway the real story on Marquette was the rash of injuries. If you saw the Washington game you know that Chris Otule injured his knee in that game. So far we only know that the problem is with his ACL. No decision has been made on his treatment-surgery or rest and rehab. If he has to have surgery he could be lost for the rest of this year but would be eligible for a medical redshirt.

Two other players were injured in practice. Jamil Wilson sprained his ankle and suited up but did not play in the game and Juan Anderson injured his shoulder. Juan's injury was more serious and he will miss 3-4 weeks.

The team's biggest challenge this week will be in the classroom. Its time for first semester final exams.

They return to the court on Saturday against Northern Colorado (3-5) from the Big Sky conference. It should be another tuneup game before they go down to Baton Rouge to face LSU.

Hopefully we'll have more information on Otule by the time they play again. Without his presence in the middle on defense they won't be the same team. It will be time for small ball with Crowder and Jamil Wilson spending more time down low behind new starter Davante Gardner (Jim McIlvaine calls him the "Schemer" for his knack of putting the ball in the basket without jumping) who can score but does not have the size or shot blocking ability of Otule.

With Otule MU could challenge for a top three spot in the Big East but their chances go down without him. Buzz's team will be looking at a fifth or sixth place finish with 11 or 12 conference wins instead of 14 or 15 with their "aircraft carrier".

What do you think?

GO WARRIORS!!












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