MILWAUKEE (AP) -Jerel McNeal led Marquette's fast defense. Wesley Matthews and Dominic James turned that momentum into a dizzying offensive display over Rutgers.
The trio of junior guards accounted for half the offense for the 25th-ranked Golden Eagles, who ran past the Scarlet Knights 78-48 on Saturday for their fourth straight victory.
“Our defense was by far our best offense,” said Marquette coach Tom Crean, who has won at least 20 games overall and 10 in the conference in each of the Golden Eagles' first three seasons in the Big East. “When you've got that going, you have an opportunity to be really good.”
After a back-and-forth first half, the Golden Eagles (20-6, 10-5) used a 16-4 run straddling halftime to take a commanding lead by relying on a stifling defense that set up a 35-4 advantage on fast break points. McNeal was a pest with five steals and seven rebounds to go along with 14 points and seven assists.
Rutgers (10-18, 2-13) never answered despite shooting 52 percent in the first half and has lost seven straight, its longest streak in seven years. The Scarlet Knights shot 27.6 percent from the field in the second half.
“It was sort of a fool's gold in the first half when we hit some shots,” Rutgers coach Fred Hill said. “We are not a jump-shooting team. We are much better when we are getting to the rim.”
Rutgers, which got 12 points from freshman Corey Chandler and 11 from J.R. Inman, last won on Jan. 26, at then-No. 13 Pittsburgh.
The Golden Eagles' run highlighted all the reasons they have turned it on in recent weeks - a fast-paced defense that forced 23 turnovers, unselfish play and timely shots.
“Defense, rebounding, running and sharing the ball; when we are at our pace, we're tough to beat,” said Matthews, who had 12 points. “Everyone has to get involved.”
Lazar Hayward had 15 points for Marquette while James added 13.
Since falling three points short in a furious comeback at Notre Dame, the Golden Eagles have won their last four games by an average of 20.5 points. Still, they weren't happy after letting St. John's come from way back to only lose by nine on Wednesday night.
“The bottom line is we wanted to come out and play an overall much better 40 minutes. At St. John's, we played about 28 or 29 minutes,” Crean said. “Records never matter in this league. They played very well early. We were close, but just not there. We really turned it up in the second half.”
But Marquette still had a big scare.
Byron Joynes, Rutgers' 265-pound center, rolled over James, a 185-pound point guard, while going for a loose ball late in the first half and pinned James' right leg underneath him.
James immediately crumpled to the court and had to be helped off. He left the bench moments later, still hobbling badly. He has had a painful junior season, spraining his right wrist badly on Jan. 8 against Seton Hall and missing the first start of his career because of flulike symptoms against Louisville on Feb. 4. But Crean said he would be available for Marquette's next game at Villanova on Monday.
Marquette, 14-1 at home, built a 35-29 halftime lead off a 3-pointer by Matthews. James returned in time for the start of the second half, complete with a new tape job on his ankle.
“He knows he's one of the leaders on this team. You can't show pain, you can't show that you're hurt or down or anything like that when you're looked at upon like he is,” Matthews said. “He brings it every day.”
James then made the game's highlight play when he flicked a 30-foot alley-oop pass to McNeal to give the Golden Eagles a 41-29 lead.
Rutgers, which did not shoot a free throw until there was 2:50 left in the game, lost eight straight from Jan. 2-27, 2001.
“I don't think I've ever been involved in a game where we only shot two free throws,” Hill said. “We settled for too many jump shots.”
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS RUTGERS vs Marquette 2/23/08 1 p.m. at Bradley Center - Milwaukee, WI -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: RUTGERS 10-18, 2-13 BE TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 15 INMAN, JR........... f 5-9 1-3 0-0 1 4 5 2 11 2 2 0 1 35 32 GRIFFIN, Jaron...... f 3-9 1-5 0-0 0 2 2 0 7 0 1 0 0 17 05 NDIAYE, Hamady...... c 2-5 0-0 0-0 1 3 4 0 4 2 2 2 0 23 02 FARMER, Anthony..... g 0-3 0-1 0-0 1 1 2 2 0 2 2 0 0 28 31 COBURN, Mike........ g 3-8 1-5 0-0 0 0 0 1 7 3 2 0 0 28 01 CHANDLER, Corey..... 5-10 2-4 0-0 1 2 3 0 12 0 3 0 3 21 10 RIGOGLIOSO, Charlie. 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 11 PETTIS, Earl........ 0-3 0-1 1-2 1 2 3 0 1 4 5 0 0 20 21 JOYNES, Byron....... 2-3 0-0 0-0 1 5 6 2 4 1 3 0 0 19 24 SOFMAN, Justin...... 1-3 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 1 7 30 GENFI, Kofi......... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 TEAM................ 1 1 1 Totals.............. 21-54 5-20 1-2 7 19 26 7 48 14 23 2 5 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-25 52.0% 2nd Half: 8-29 27.6% Game: 38.9% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-10 30.0% 2nd Half: 2-10 20.0% Game: 25.0% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 0-0 0.0% 2nd Half: 1-2 50.0% Game: 50.0% 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Marquette 20-6, 10-5 BE TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 32 HAYWARD, Lazar...... f 6-10 2-4 1-1 1 4 5 1 15 0 1 0 2 19 41 BARRO, Ousmane...... f 2-7 0-0 2-2 3 3 6 2 6 0 2 0 3 26 01 JAMES, Dominic...... g 5-9 1-3 2-2 0 0 0 1 13 6 5 0 0 29 22 MCNEAL, Jerel....... g 7-10 0-0 0-0 1 6 7 1 14 7 2 3 5 27 23 MATTHEWS, Wesley.... g 5-8 2-2 0-0 0 4 4 1 12 0 2 0 3 30 00 CHRISTOPHERSON,Scott 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 02 ACKER, Maurice...... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 1 2 3 0 0 1 9 04 HAZEL, Patrick...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 0 0 1 0 1 0 2 05 FITZGERALD, Dan..... 1-3 1-3 0-0 0 3 3 1 3 0 0 0 0 17 10 CUBILLAN, David..... 2-5 2-4 0-0 0 0 0 1 6 2 2 0 0 16 12 BURKE, Dwight....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 3 21 BLACKLEDGE, Lawrence 2-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 1 5 33 MBAKWE, Trevor...... 1-1 0-0 1-2 0 1 1 2 3 1 2 0 0 12 TEAM................ 1 1 2 Totals.............. 32-57 8-17 6-7 6 26 32 12 78 21 16 5 15 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-28 46.4% 2nd Half: 19-29 65.5% Game: 56.1% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-7 57.1% 2nd Half: 4-10 40.0% Game: 47.1% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 5-5 100 % 2nd Half: 1-2 50.0% Game: 85.7% 1,1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Ed Corbett, Bob Donato, Les Jones Technical fouls: RUTGERS-None. Marquette-None. Attendance: 18901 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total RUTGERS....................... 29 19 - 48 Marquette..................... 35 43 - 78 ID-597173 Points in the paint-RUTGERS 24,MU 46. Points off turnovers-RUTGERS 8,MU 28. 2nd chance points-RUTGERS 8,MU 2. Fast break points-RUTGERS 4,MU 35. Bench points-RUTGERS 19,MU 18. Score tied-6 times. Lead changed-6 times. Last FG-RUTGERS 2nd-00:28, MU 2nd-00:11. Largest lead-RUTGERS by 3 1st-14:55, MU by 30 2nd-00:43.
1st Half Summary TIME RUTGERS SCORE MARQUETTE 19:47 0-2 Jerel McNeal made Two Point Layup. 19:15 Mike Coburn made Two Point Layup. 2-2 18:41 2-5 Lazar Hayward made Three Point Jumper. Assisted by Jerel McNeal. 18:11 JR Inman made Three Point Jumper. Assisted by Hamady N'Diaye. 5-5 18:02 5-7 Jerel McNeal made Two Point Layup. 17:45 Hamady N'Diaye made Two Point Jumper. 7-7 17:33 Foul on Anthony Farmer 7-7 17:30 7-7 Jerel McNeal missed Two Point Jumper. 17:30 7-7 Ousmane Barro Offensive Rebound. 17:27 7-7 Ousmane Barro missed Two Point Layup. 17:26 7-7 Jerel McNeal Offensive Rebound. 17:19 7-7 Ousmane Barro missed Two Point Layup. 17:19 7-7 Marquette Offensive Rebound. 17:13 7-9 Wesley Matthews made Two Point Layup. 16:52 Jaron Griffin missed Three Point Jumper. 7-9 16:52 JR Inman Offensive Rebound. 7-9 16:48 JR Inman made Two Point Dunk Shot. 9-9 16:28 9-9 Lazar Hayward missed Three Point Jumper. 16:28 JR Inman Defensive Rebound. 9-9 15:55 Jaron Griffin made Two Point Jumper. 11-9 15:48 11-9 Ousmane Barro missed Two Point Layup. 15:46 Jaron Griffin Defensive Rebound. 11-9 15:39 11-9 Foul on Wesley Matthews 15:39 Official TV Timeout. 11-9 15:16 Foul on Mike Coburn 11-9 15:16 11-10 Dominic James made Free Throw. 15:16 11-11 Dominic James made Free Throw. 14:58 Corey Chandler made Three Point Jumper. Assisted by Anthony Farmer. 14-11 14:32 14-13 Lazar Hayward made Two Point Layup. 13:57 14-15 Ousmane Barro made Two Point Layup. Assisted by Wesley Matthews. 13:36 Corey Chandler made Three Point Jumper. Assisted by JR Inman. 17-15 13:26 17-17 Lazar Hayward made Two Point Layup. 13:26 Foul on Byron Joynes 17-17 13:26 17-18 Lazar Hayward made Free Throw. 13:07 Byron Joynes made Two Point Layup. 19-18 13:00 19-18 Foul on Jerel McNeal 12:36 19-18 Foul on David Cubillan 12:30 19-18 Foul on Trevor Mbakwe 12:27 Corey Chandler missed Three Point Jumper. 19-18 12:26 Anthony Farmer Offensive Rebound. 19-18 12:14 JR Inman missed Two Point Jumper. 19-18 12:14 19-18 Jerel McNeal Defensive Rebound. 12:09 19-20 Jerel McNeal made Two Point Layup. 11:43 19-22 Dominic James made Two Point Layup. 11:25 Official TV Timeout. 19-22 10:22 Earl Pettis missed Two Point Jumper. 19-22 10:22 19-22 Dan Fitzgerald Defensive Rebound. 10:08 19-22 Wesley Matthews missed Two Point Jumper. 10:08 Byron Joynes Defensive Rebound. 19-22 9:47 Corey Chandler missed Two Point Layup. 19-22 9:47 Corey Chandler Offensive Rebound. 19-22 9:44 Corey Chandler made Two Point Layup. 21-22 9:30 21-22 Dan Fitzgerald missed Three Point Jumper. 9:30 Corey Chandler Defensive Rebound. 21-22 8:38 Jaron Griffin missed Three Point Jumper. 21-22 8:38 21-22 Ousmane Barro Defensive Rebound. 8:27 21-22 Dominic James missed Two Point Jumper. 8:27 Earl Pettis Defensive Rebound. 21-22 8:10 Foul on Anthony Farmer 21-22 8:10 21-23 Ousmane Barro made Free Throw. 8:10 21-24 Ousmane Barro made Free Throw. 8:01 21-24 Foul on Maurice Acker 7:45 Official TV Timeout. 21-24 7:23 21-24 Dominic James missed Two Point Layup. 7:23 Hamady N'Diaye Defensive Rebound. 21-24 7:04 Jaron Griffin made Two Point Jumper. 23-24 6:56 23-24 Wesley Matthews missed Two Point Layup. 6:56 Jaron Griffin Defensive Rebound. 23-24 6:43 Rutgers 30 Second Timeout. 6:10 23-26 Jerel McNeal made Two Point Layup. 5:53 Mike Coburn made Two Point Layup. 25-26 5:46 25-26 Foul on Dominic James 5:15 Jaron Griffin missed Three Point Jumper. 25-26 5:15 25-26 Jerel McNeal Defensive Rebound. 5:02 25-29 Wesley Matthews made Three Point Jumper. Assisted by Jerel McNeal. 4:40 Jaron Griffin missed Two Point Jumper. 25-29 4:39 25-29 Dan Fitzgerald Defensive Rebound. 4:31 25-29 Jerel McNeal missed Two Point Layup. 4:31 25-29 Ousmane Barro Offensive Rebound. 4:29 25-29 Ousmane Barro missed Two Point Layup. 4:29 JR Inman Defensive Rebound. 25-29 4:16 JR Inman made Two Point Jumper. 27-29 3:33 Earl Pettis missed Three Point Jumper. 27-29 3:33 27-29 Marquette Defensive Rebound. 3:33 27-29 Official TV Timeout. 3:21 27-32 David Cubillan made Three Point Jumper. Assisted by Dominic James. 2:54 Mike Coburn missed Three Point Jumper. 27-32 2:54 27-32 Marquette Defensive Rebound. 2:17 Byron Joynes made Two Point Layup. Assisted by Mike Coburn. 29-32 2:03 29-32 David Cubillan missed Three Point Jumper. 2:03 Byron Joynes Defensive Rebound. 29-32 1:47 Mike Coburn missed Two Point Layup. 29-32 1:47 29-32 Dan Fitzgerald Defensive Rebound. 1:39 29-32 Jerel McNeal missed Two Point Jumper. 1:39 Corey Chandler Defensive Rebound. 29-32 1:04 29-35 Wesley Matthews made Three Point Jumper. Assisted by Jerel McNeal. 1:00 Rutgers 30 Second Timeout. 0:29 JR Inman missed Three Point Jumper. 29-35 0:29 29-35 Wesley Matthews Defensive Rebound. 0:11 Marquette 30 Second Timeout. 0:10 Foul on Byron Joynes 29-35 0:04 29-35 David Cubillan missed Two Point Layup. 0:04 Byron Joynes Defensive Rebound. 29-35 0:00 End of the 1st Half. 1 | 2 | All 2nd Half Summary TIME RUTGERS SCORE MARQUETTE 19:36 29-37 Dominic James made Two Point Layup. 19:05 JR Inman missed Two Point Jumper. 29-37 19:05 29-37 Jerel McNeal Defensive Rebound. 18:59 29-37 Lazar Hayward missed Two Point Jumper. 18:59 Hamady N'Diaye Defensive Rebound. 29-37 18:41 Rutgers 30 Second Timeout. 18:29 29-39 Wesley Matthews made Two Point Layup. Assisted by Dominic James. 18:07 Mike Coburn missed Three Point Jumper. 29-39 18:07 29-39 Lazar Hayward Defensive Rebound. 17:56 Foul on JR Inman 29-39 17:48 Jaron Griffin missed Two Point Jumper. 29-39 17:48 29-39 Lazar Hayward Defensive Rebound. 17:39 29-41 Jerel McNeal made Two Point Layup. Assisted by Dominic James. 17:12 Corey Chandler missed Two Point Jumper. 29-41 17:12 29-41 Wesley Matthews Defensive Rebound. 16:45 29-41 Dan Fitzgerald missed Three Point Jumper. 16:45 Earl Pettis Defensive Rebound. 29-41 16:31 29-41 Foul on Ousmane Barro 16:20 JR Inman made Two Point Dunk Shot. 31-41 15:52 31-41 Dominic James missed Three Point Jumper. 15:52 Byron Joynes Defensive Rebound. 31-41 15:30 Marquette 30 Second Timeout. 15:12 Corey Chandler made Two Point Layup. 33-41 14:47 33-41 Official TV Timeout. 14:14 Corey Chandler missed Three Point Jumper. 33-41 14:14 33-41 Ousmane Barro Defensive Rebound. 14:06 33-44 Dan Fitzgerald made Three Point Jumper. Assisted by David Cubillan. 13:44 Earl Pettis missed Two Point Jumper. 33-44 13:44 33-44 Jerel McNeal Defensive Rebound. 13:25 33-46 Dominic James made Two Point Layup. 12:54 33-48 Jerel McNeal made Two Point Jumper. 12:52 Rutgers 30 Second Timeout. 12:30 33-48 David Cubillan missed Three Point Jumper. 12:30 Anthony Farmer Defensive Rebound. 33-48 12:20 Anthony Farmer missed Three Point Jumper. 33-48 12:20 33-48 Wesley Matthews Defensive Rebound. 11:58 33-48 Official TV Timeout. 11:33 Corey Chandler made Two Point Layup. Assisted by Mike Coburn. 35-48 11:25 35-50 Dominic James made Two Point Layup. 11:04 Hamady N'Diaye missed Two Point Jumper. 35-50 11:04 35-50 Lazar Hayward Defensive Rebound. 10:55 35-53 Lazar Hayward made Three Point Jumper. Assisted by David Cubillan. 10:34 35-53 Foul on Lazar Hayward 10:09 35-55 Maurice Acker made Two Point Layup. 10:01 35-55 Foul on Trevor Mbakwe 9:47 JR Inman made Two Point Layup. 37-55 9:31 37-57 Jerel McNeal made Two Point Jumper. 9:17 Corey Chandler missed Two Point Layup. 37-57 9:16 37-57 Trevor Mbakwe Defensive Rebound. 9:10 37-59 Lazar Hayward made Two Point Layup. Assisted by Maurice Acker. 8:54 Anthony Farmer missed Two Point Jumper. 37-59 8:54 Byron Joynes Offensive Rebound. 37-59 8:51 Byron Joynes missed Two Point Jumper. 37-59 8:51 37-59 Lazar Hayward Defensive Rebound. 8:48 Foul on JR Inman 37-59 8:48 37-59 Trevor Mbakwe missed Free Throw. 8:48 37-60 Trevor Mbakwe made Free Throw. 8:25 37-60 Foul on Dwight Burke 8:09 Jaron Griffin missed Two Point Jumper. 37-60 8:09 37-60 Jerel McNeal Defensive Rebound. 8:00 37-60 Scott Christopherson missed Three Point Jumper. 8:00 Byron Joynes Defensive Rebound. 37-60 7:48 Hamady N'Diaye missed Two Point Dunk Shot. 37-60 7:48 Hamady N'Diaye Offensive Rebound. 37-60 7:39 Jaron Griffin made Three Point Jumper. 40-60 7:15 40-60 Lazar Hayward missed Three Point Jumper. 7:15 40-60 Lazar Hayward Offensive Rebound. 7:07 40-60 Lazar Hayward missed Two Point Layup. 7:07 Hamady N'Diaye Defensive Rebound. 40-60 6:43 Anthony Farmer missed Two Point Layup. 40-60 6:39 40-60 Jerel McNeal Defensive Rebound. 6:35 40-62 Jerel McNeal made Two Point Dunk Shot. Assisted by Maurice Acker. 6:35 Official TV Timeout. 40-62 5:44 40-65 Dominic James made Three Point Jumper. 5:15 Mike Coburn missed Three Point Jumper. 40-65 5:15 40-65 Ousmane Barro Defensive Rebound. 5:02 40-65 Dominic James missed Three Point Jumper. 5:02 JR Inman Defensive Rebound. 40-65 4:57 40-65 Foul on Dan Fitzgerald 4:28 Justin Sofman made Two Point Layup. Assisted by JR Inman. 42-65 4:27 Marquette 30 Second Timeout. 4:08 42-67 Wesley Matthews made Two Point Layup. 3:42 JR Inman missed Three Point Jumper. 42-67 3:42 42-67 Wesley Matthews Defensive Rebound. 3:30 42-67 Wesley Matthews missed Two Point Layup. 3:30 42-67 Ousmane Barro Offensive Rebound. 3:28 42-67 Ousmane Barro missed Two Point Layup. 3:28 JR Inman Defensive Rebound. 42-67 3:09 42-69 Ousmane Barro made Two Point Layup. Assisted by Dominic James. 2:52 Justin Sofman missed Two Point Jumper. 42-69 2:52 Earl Pettis Offensive Rebound. 42-69 2:50 42-69 Foul on Ousmane Barro 2:50 Official TV Timeout. 42-69 2:50 Earl Pettis made Free Throw. 43-69 2:50 Earl Pettis missed Free Throw. 43-69 2:50 43-69 Maurice Acker Defensive Rebound. 2:33 43-72 David Cubillan made Three Point Jumper. Assisted by Trevor Mbakwe. 2:06 Mike Coburn made Three Point Jumper. 46-72 1:49 46-74 Lawrence Blackledge made Two Point Dunk Shot. 1:32 Justin Sofman missed Three Point Jumper. 46-74 1:32 46-74 Maurice Acker Defensive Rebound. 1:16 Foul on Justin Sofman 46-74 0:49 Kofi Genfi missed Two Point Jumper. 46-74 0:48 46-74 Patrick Hazel Defensive Rebound. 0:42 46-76 Lawrence Blackledge made Two Point Layup. Assisted by Patrick Hazel. 0:32 Hamady N'Diaye made Two Point Dunk Shot. 48-76 0:19 48-78 Trevor Mbakwe made Two Point Dunk Shot. Assisted by Maurice Acker. 0:08 Hamady N'Diaye missed Two Point Jumper. 48-78 0:08 Rutgers Offensive Rebound. 48-78 0:04 Mike Coburn missed Three Point Jumper. 48-78 0:04 48-78 Patrick Hazel Defensive Rebound. 0:00 End Game