Of course, Marquette coach Buzz Williams knew that Tuesday’s victory over South Florida was the 100th of his head coaching career.
It would have been a major upset if that one had slid by Williams who has such an uncanny penchant for numbers.
"Not to sound like a weirdo, but I beat all of y'all when it come to numbers," he told reporters after the game.
Williams is now 86-41 in his four-year tenure at Marquette. He was 14-17 at New Orleans in his first season as a head coach (2006-'07).
"Really, I ought to be in a 2-A high school in Texas as a JV assistant coach," said Williams. "That’s what I deserve."
"I think we’re in a really good rhythm and so it’s not about the 100 games. I'm really thankful for all the people who have been a part of it, particularly the guys that are here now."
USF was no match for Marquette’s defensive pressure in Tuesday night’s 67-47 victory at the Bradley Center which was the Golden Eagles’ fifth straight.
USF coach Stan Heath said that quickness was the key to the Golden Eagles' defense and that his team gave itself "no chance" of winning by turning the ball over 22 times. Marquette’s ability to convert turnovers into transition points only complicated matters for the Bulls.
"You worry about how quick they get to the other side of the court," he said. "They’re very active. They rotate. They cover well for each other. And if you’re a team that’s going to pass the ball once and try to go one-on-one, it’s not a good style of play."
Williams feels things are starting to fall in place defensively for Marquette which limited USF to 35.6% shooting and has adapted to the loss of injured center Chris Otule.
"Just as in the same manner we’ve begun to have some fluidity to what we’re doing offensively, some of those same things are happening for us defensively," said Williams. "Obviously we’re doing more things defensively to hide our deficiencies but in doing more things sometimes that changes the rhythm of the opponent in a good way for us. I think some of that was able to happen (Tuesday). Jamil's (Wilson) versatility and even the few possessions we were able to get Juan (Anderson) in, that was pretty good."
Marquette’s season low of five turnovers bettered its previous low of nine that came against Jacksonville on Nov. 28. It was the Golden Eagles' fewest turnovers since they committed three in a victory over Connecticut on Jan. 30, 2010.
"We tried (to force more turnovers)," said Heath. "It’s not like we don’t try. We’re not necessarily one of those high-turnover-forcing teams. We have some length and we rebound the ball pretty well but if you just look at us, we don’t really force a lot of turnovers."
Marquette led by two with 7 minutes 32 seconds left in the first half but then outscored USF, 17-7, and held a 33-21 halftime lead. The Golden Eagles scored the final seven points of the half as Wilson hit a three and Todd Mayo made two foul shots. USF's Jawanza Poland then missed a dunk and Darius Johnson-Odom drove the length of the court and missed a layup but Wilson was there to dunk home the rebound and send the Golden Eagles into the locker room on a high note.
"That was big," said Heath. "We had been doing a good job of closing halves and getting momentum plays. Nine times out of 10 (Poland) knocks that down."
"Said Johnson-Odom, Jamil is growing into his own. It took him awhile but I thought he just wanted to let it happen for him. When he is able to come and play like that… give us energy, block shots, be able to play (either forward position), it helps us tremendously."
USF turned the ball over seven times early in the second half as Marquette took a 47-26 lead with 13:26 left. Jae Crowder came up with three of his six steals during that stretch for the Golden Eagles.
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