Despite Dwight Buycks being out for the game with an ankle injury, Marquette looked spectacular against the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders and won 86-50. MU outclassed them in every facet of the game, and after about 5 minutes of play, the score was no longer close. This was a bittersweet victory, however, as Joe Fulce hit the floor after knocking knees with an Islander midway through the second half (and yes, it was the knee he already injured). Fulce was writhing in pain after the collision and had to be helped into the locker room. Signs of him returning anytime soon don't look good.
Now that the bitter part is out of the way, on to the sweet.
Marquette destroyed A&M-CC in turnover margin, winning that battle 22-8. A lot of the turnovers were unforced by MU (5 were forced by Reggie Smith), as the Islanders looked very sloppy throughout the entire game.
It's a miracle! We didn't blow from 3-point land! The golden eagles went 4-8 from long range in the first half, 5-13 overall (39%). 2 of the 5 came from Jae Crowder at the top of the key. Overall, MU shot an impressive 55% from the field, mainly due to the fact that they had over 50 points in the paint.
Vander Blue had a career night with 21 points, 3 steals and 2 blocks. He scored from outside, inside, and, well pretty much any other side you can think of. I think I'm at the point where I like watching him play defense just as much as I like watching him play offense. He makes great passes and cares more about putting points on the board than making the highlight reels. As expected, he's been a solid contributor so far.
Crowder had 15 points, and I feel like all of those came as garbage points. The kid continues to always be in the right spot at the right time. Jimmy Butler had a strong inside presence as well and chipped in 15 points.
As I said, Dwight Buycks was out due to an ankle injury which he incurred in practice, but is expected to play against Wisconsin on Saturday. Although, he seemed to be walking fine when he was helping Fulce off the court. Buzz did say though that his injury this time wasn't as bad as when he injured it a month ago.
Marquette takes on Wisconsin Saturday at 1:30 at the Bradley Center. Check back here later in the week for a preview of the game.
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