Presbyterian 62 Marquette 102

Based on the way his Marquette Golden Eagles played Sunday, maybe coach Buzz Williams should consider giving them a few more days off here and there.

In their first game back an unusual six-day holiday respite, the Golden Eagles were sharp as could be in downing the Presbyterian Blue Hose, 102-62, at the Bradley Center.

Sparked by scorching 70.4% shooting in the first half and committing a season-low four turnovers for the game, MU's players made sure Williams' decision to give them such a large chunk of time away from basketball at such a crucial time wouldn't come back and bite him - or them.

“I think that's because we were saying, 'Maybe we want that again,' so we had to come out and show Buzz that just because we go home doesn't mean we won't come back with energy and intensity to keep pushing the way that we left off,” said junior forward Jimmy Butler.

“I think we all showed him we're mature enough to handle a few days home with family.”

Lazar Hayward scored a game high 23 points to lead the Golden Eagles (9-3). Butler (16), Darius Johnson-Odom (15), Dwight Buycks and Maurice Acker (career high 14 apiece) and David Cubillan (10) also finished in double figures for MU, which reached the century mark for the first time since Nov. 22, 2008.

Following MU's last game, a 78-51 win over North Florida on Dec. 19, Williams had expressed some reservations about giving his team so much time off so close to not only its next home game but also its Big East opener, which is Tuesday at No. 6 West Virginia.

But the Golden Eagles returned to the Al McGuire Center on Christmas night and turned in a strong practice, much to Williams' delight. The team spent all of Saturday together and then went through a spirited early-morning practice prior to Sunday's game, foreshadowing what was to come just a few hours later.

“I'm telling you, they're energetic, great passion,” Williams said. “I thought they were extremely unselfish. I thought we did really good things more consecutively than we had over the last month.”

Presbyterian (2-11) actually led, 12-10, before the wheels fell off, and MU embarked on a game-deciding 39-16 run that saw the Golden Eagles hit nine straight shots to kick-start the surge and eight different players score in it overall.

The run was capped by a picture perfect play to close a first half in which Cubillan lobbed a baseball pass from the baseline to a waiting Butler at the opposite free-throw line. Butler caught the ball, took a quick dribble to his right, banked in a shot and was also fouled with 0.5 seconds remaining.

The free throw made it 49-28 heading into intermission.

“We always joke around and I say I'm Chad Ochocinco,” said Butler. “(Cubillan) was like, 'OK, I'm going to throw it. You better catch it.' Caught it, went to the basket strong, and one.”

With the game quickly getting out of hand in the second half, Williams made things a bit more interesting by subbing in and subbing out five players at once on a few different occasions. With only nine scholarship players available, that meant that walk-on Rob Frozena checked into the game for the first time at the 10:48 mark.

“I didn't do that to create attention,” Williams said. “I said, 'OK, we're playing shell prep. Got to get two stops in a row and one's got to be clean, otherwise we're playing with a new five guys.'

“I don't think our guys were stunned by it because we do it every day, but I think I've got to find ways to make them be more accountable to get more consecutive stops in a row.”

Following the game, MU left for West Virginia. The No. 6 Mountaineers are coming off an overtime victory at Seton Hall.

Official Basketball Box Score
Presbyterian vs Marquette
12/27/09 1 p.m. at Bradley Center - Milwaukee, Wis.


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VISITORS: Presbyterian 2-11
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
30 TROYLI, Jake........ f  2-8    0-1    2-2    1  3  4   3   6  0  4  1  0  30
31 HOLMES, Chase....... f  3-7    1-2    5-6    0  1  1   3  12  1  3  0  1  27
05 SMITH, Travis....... g  3-7    2-5    0-4    0  3  3   3   8  4  1  0  0  31
24 MUTAKABBIR, Khalid.. g  6-8    0-1    2-2    2  1  3   3  14  3  3  0  0  34
32 FAIRCLOTH, Zach..... g  6-10   3-5    0-0    1  3  4   2  15  3  1  0  2  39
02 DAVIS, Kevin........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  2  0  0   8
15 HARGRAVE, Ryan......    2-6    2-3    0-0    1  3  4   1   6  0  0  1  0  19
21 ALLEN, Walt.........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   1
44 REYNOLDS, Jay.......    0-0    0-0    1-2    0  1  1   1   1  0  1  0  0  11
   Team................
   Totals..............   22-46   8-17  10-16   5 15 20  16  62 11 15  2  3 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-24 41.7%   2nd Half: 12-22 54.5%   Game: 47.8%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  5-10 50.0%   2nd Half:  3-7  42.9%   Game: 47.1%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  3-4  75.0%   2nd Half:  7-12 58.3%   Game: 62.5%    3


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HOME TEAM: Marquette 9-3
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
21 Fulce, Joseph....... f  3-4    0-0    0-0    2  3  5   1   6  3  0  0  0  18
32 Hayward, Lazar...... f  9-15   2-3    3-4    3  4  7   3  23  1  0  1  3  29
33 Butler, Jimmy....... f  5-8    0-1    6-7    3  5  8   0  16  5  0  0  2  28
10 Cubillan, David..... g  3-3    2-2    2-2    0  1  1   1  10  3  1  0  0  18
23 Buycks, Dwight...... g  6-9    1-3    1-1    0  4  4   0  14  3  1  0  0  28
01 Johnson-Odom, Darius    6-9    3-3    0-0    0  1  1   1  15  4  0  0  0  20
02 Acker, Maurice......    5-10   2-5    2-2    0  0  0   2  14  1  1  0  1  22
12 Williams, Erik......    2-6    0-0    0-1    4  2  6   2   4  2  0  0  0  15
45 Frozena, Robert.....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   1   0  1  1  0  0   7
55 Mbao, Youssoupha....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   1   0  1  0  1  1  15
   TEAM................
   Totals..............   39-64  10-17  14-17  12 22 34  12 102 24  4  2  7 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 19-27 70.4%   2nd Half: 20-37 54.1%   Game: 60.9%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  4-7  57.1%   2nd Half:  6-10 60.0%   Game: 58.8%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  7-9  77.8%   2nd Half:  7-8  87.5%   Game: 82.4%    1


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Officials: Bernard Clinton, Brent Hampton, Lamar Simpson
Technical fouls: Presbyterian-None. Marquette-None.
Attendance: 14321
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Presbyterian..................   28   34  -   62
Marquette.....................   49   53  -  102
ID=808080

Points in the paint-PC 16,MU 42. Points off turnovers-PC 7,MU 30.
2nd chance points-PC 4,MU 14. Fast break points-PC 8,MU 10.
Bench points-PC 7,MU 33. Score tied-4 times. Lead changed-2 times.
Last FG-PC 2nd-00:27, MU 2nd-01:40.
Largest lead-PC by 2 1st-13:54, MU by 42 2nd-01:40.