If you ever get the chance to corner Buzz Williams, ask him a question. Not about anything in particular. Just ask him something.

Anything.

Ask him about his love for sweet tea. Inquire about the yellow Marquette hat he has. Heck, question the imminent potential of him winning the BIG EAST Coach of the Year Award. What you will hear will make you pause for a second. What your ears will be treated to will help you understand the person Buzz Williams is-because what you hear will be a testament to his character. He will tell you that the sweet tea he drinks originates from the area he feels so fortunate to have come from. He will tell you a remarkable story about how he received that yellow Marquette hat from Athletic Director Steve Cottingham the day he was hired-and how he wears it every game day. Oh, and he will tell you that all the success that this team is having this season has absolutely nothing to do with him. The culminating fact about all of that?

He believes it. His guys believe it. And they believe in each other.

After the team’s victory over West Virginia, Williams said, “We have five rules. Being a good teammate is the first one.” Being a good teammate may come pretty easy to this group. The senior guards have played nearly every game together for the past four years. But how have they bought into a new coach in their last season in the blue and gold?

Frankly, how could you not?

He deflects away any positive attention thrown his way. He expresses his graciousness to the university at every possible opportunity. He knows exactly how many days he has been on the job. He is a man built on will. When I recently asked him how he would define the word “character,” he told me, “Character is doing the right thing, every time, no matter the consequence, and having the discipline to do it no matter the forum or the audience.”

When Marquette fans look at this team, they see a collection of talented athletes. But what separates this squad from others, is the general that patrols their sideline, the guy that-no matter the circumstance-is always in their corner. He has charisma, class, reverence, and gratitude. All of it contributes to his impeccable character.

Don’t believe me? Just ask him something.

Brad Galli
MUTV Assistant Sports Director

MILWAUKEE–On a night where there was a possibility of Krystal Ellis breaking the women’s all-time scoring record, she came up short by scoring 9 points and is now 16 points shy of that mark. The Golden Eagles also fell short by losing to the Syracuse Orange 66-55.

The story of the night was Chandrea Jones and Nicole Michael, as they poured in a combined 40 points and 16 rebounds in Tuesday’s action. Marquette got off to a cold start as they missed 13 of their first 15 shots from the field leading to an early 11-1 deficit.

Marquette got back into the game by attacking the zone and getting good ball movement to create easy shots as they went into the locker room down 32-31. Marquette continued to use its momentum to stay in the game as the first 10 minutes following the half saw eight lead changes and three ties. MU’s first lead of the contest came on its very first possession of the second half on an offensive rebound and putback by Jessica Pachko. Struggling to put the ball in the basket the rest of the second half, MU shot 36.2 percent from the floor, 9-of-17 from the foul line and went 0-of-11 from 3-point range.

Syracuse’s full court press forced turnovers and Marquette couldn’t find an offensive rhythm. Angel Robinson and Krystal Ellis were each held to single digit scoring, with seven and nine points, respectively. The Marquette duo combined to shoot just 6-23 from the floor, a horrendous 26.1 percent. Marquette will return to the hardwood January 30 at Pittsburgh.

Todd Warner
MUTV Sports

The Marquette Basketball anthem is here. Get up. It’s from Jay-Z’s hit “Heart of the City.” Look for a full feature about the song coming next week.

7-0…Really digest that for a moment.

Jumpin’ Jesuits… WE’RE 7-0!!!

That’s about the reaction from almost every Marquette fan as they wake up today. If you haven’t checked out the newest Big East standings, you cannot help but smile when you look to the top of the sixteen team list.

1. No. 8/8 Marquette 18-2 (7-0)

To put it plainly, this is awesome. But be wary Marquette Basketball fans, because in this conference, being the hunted is something new for this program. The history speaks for itself. The Golden Eagles have had at least two losses through five games in their first three seasons in the conference. Now they sit unblemished on top of an absurdly talented heap of very good teams.
For the last three years, this program’s starts were not going to make opposing teams and fans sweat over the upcoming Marquette game on their schedule. A 7-0 start though… A win on the road against a ranked team… I do not care who you did it against, everyone is looking up at you.

Everyone.

The only problem now is they’ll be gunning for you too.
If Buzz Williams and his players wake up today and notice a strange itch developing on their backs, it might be the big red bulls eye that grew overnight. And with every victory that bulls eye will get bigger. Monday nights thriller against Notre Dame put the rest of the conference on alert. They have the attention of the so called “big boys” now, and they can certainly expect a rough go against them.

This team isn’t sneaking up on anyone again for the rest of the year.

Hey, you all wanted this. Now it’s time to put up or shut up. Saturday will bring will bring another talented Big East team to the Bradley Center that is desperate for a win. Georgetown (like Notre Dame) cannot afford to lose their next game. Expect the kitchen sink and then some on Saturday.

If this group gets to 8-0… 9-0… dare I say even 10-0 in conference play… with only four players scoring the basketball, Buzz Williams should get the Nobel Prize.

Talk about getting the most out of your players. You could write a book on the things that this team lacks. And you could write another about overcoming adversity.

Understand this people… UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCE DO YOU DOMINATE IN COLLEGE BASKETBALL PLAYING NO ONE TALLER THAN 6′6″. That doesn’t happen. Normally when coaches go to a lineup like that, it’s out of desperation, not confidence. This team plays cool, calm, and collected when they’re six or seven inches shorter than the tallest guy on the floor!

I’ve always used one main criterion to determine a great team from a good one: Even when you don’t play well, you are still able to find ways to win games. In the past three seasons, if the Golden Eagles didn’t show up at the start of a game, they were dead in the water. Let the Providence game show that this trend is ending. Let Monday’s Notre Dame game show that this team has a killer instinct to match.

You can’t quite put your finger on it, but something is going on with this team. They just know how to make the extra pass. They just know how to come up with HUGE defensive stops. And the just have this innate quality to score more points than the other team.

They’re termites, all twelve of them. Even our big guys are termites (compared to what our expectation of what a “big guy” should look like). But like termites, they swarm you, and they never go away. Just when you think you’ve driven them off, they’re in your face destroying your will to fight back. They demoralize you to the point where you shake your head and ask yourself what the heck happened?

The national media has begun to take notice. The student body is nearly in a frenzy. Alumni are holding their breath. And all the while Buzz Williams keeps his players focused on the next game ahead. Even with some irritated powerhouses looking up at one of the Big East’s newbies, it’s hard for fans to say they’ve never felt more confident.

Yeah, we might be termites, but we play like giants. Who knows, maybe we’re all witness to something special going on this season. You know last time a Marquette team rattled off ten straight wins in the middle of a season, they had a no name head coach, a bunch of players that had never won anything before, and an ability to frustrate teams into madness.

They won a conference title and went to the Final Four.

Get on board everyone, because the bandwagon is about to fill up very quickly.

Brian Henry
Marquette University Radio Sports Director

South Bend–The #8 ranked Marquette Golden Eagles are set to face off against #22 Notre Dame tonight in a battle of BIG EAST Titans. The gold-and-blue clad Eagles take a nine game winning streak into the Joyce Center, their longest streak since the 2004-05 season. Buzz Williams’s crew also puts a perfect 6-0 conference record on the line tonight.

But the real key to look out for: how Notre Dame comes out of the gates. The Fighting Irish dropped their first home game in nearly three years Saturday. The loss back then came at the hands of a Steve Novak-led Marquette team. Since then, Notre Dame took 45 straight games from their opponents. That was, of course, until their recent bout against UConn. Luke Harangody is the heart and soul of the Irish, averaging 24.8 points per game and 13.1 rebounds per game.

The Golden Eagles are of course led by their fearless backcourt of Jerel McNeal, Dominic James, and Wes Matthews. But Lazar Hayward will be the leading factor towards a potential MU victory. His 16 point, 17 rebound performance against DePaul carried the team, and they will need a similar night from him to combat Harangody’s skillset.

Jerel is keying in on some milestones. He is two steals shy of second place all-time in Marquette history, behind leader Michael Wilson. He also has 1652 career points, and with just 12 points tonight, will pass Bo Ellis as the 6th-leading scorer in MU history. Dominic James is just 4 points off Jerel’s pace, and could very well pass Ellis tonight as well. Lazar Hayward is 14 points shy of 1000 for his career. He would become the fourth current Golden Eagle to hit that mark.

Brad Galli
MUTV Assistant Sports Director

Milwaukee-In one of Marquette’s less impressive games of the season, they pulled out the victory by scoring when they needed to. They started both halves slowly, but once they got warmed up their fast break offense was too much for DePaul to contend with. Dominic James was a big part of the offensive success with his 9 assists-all coming in the first half. While he did not have a spectacular afternoon shooting the ball, his superior passing facilitated the scoring for the rest of his teammates.

The scoring was picked up by Jerel McNeal, Wes Matthews and Lazar Hayward, who all finished in double figures. Dwight Burke, who was a perfect 4-4 from the field, also chipped in with 10 points.

On defense, Marquette controlled DePaul inside for the most part, and most of the damage to Marquette was done from the outside. DePaul’s three points shooting kept them within reach for the length of the game, but Marquette caused sixteen turnovers to maintain control.

McNeal tore apart the Deacons’ defense with his quickness and slashing ability, and Hayward dominated the boards, finishing with 17.

The victory puts Marquette at 6-0 in the BIG EAST, and keeps them atop the conference’s rankings. But the Golden Eagles must prepare for Notre Dame and “Big Monday,” just 52 hours from now.
 

Josemanuel Lopez
MUTV Sports

 WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Marquette women’s basketball team overcame a 11-point half-time deficit to defeat Georgetown, 80-65, Wednesday evening at McDonough Arena. The Golden Eagles had a quartet of players in double figures, led by sophomore Angel Robinson with 19 points. With the win, the Golden Eagles improve to 12-8 overall, 3-2 in BIG EAST play.Freshman Jessica Pachko poured in 16 points, while senior Erin Monfre contributed 12, and sophomore Tatiyiana McMorris added 13.