What a disaster. Marquette Golden Eagles started the year 2-0, and there were many with optimistic thoughts about the season. Those people were given a healthy glass of a back to earth as Michigan humbled Marquette, 79-61. Golden Eagles struggled in many different facets of the game, and it’s disappointing to see such a poor effort after two great games to begin the year.

Golden Eagles Get Overwhelmed Quickly
Some might call it fake, but Marquette had this game tied with about 13 minutes left to go in the first half. Michigan shot at unreal clip, but they were still keeping pace. Then Michigan swallowed Marquette whole with quite a run where Wolverines barley missed a shot and pulled ahead by 24 points by halftime. They did this all without Derrick Walton Jr, their starting point guard and Van Wilder nominee. Marquette can’t get down on themselves if shit’s not working on offense. That was part of the problem.

Defensive game plan was a mess.
I’m not sure what Steve Wojciehowski was thinking with this defensive game plan. Marquette did not seem to have the horses to play this kind of style. Luke Fischer playing away from the post makes about as much sense as some of President-Elect Trump’s cabinet decisions. Wojo needs to be better than this moving forward if Marquette wants to beat good teams on a regular basis.

Michigan’s 1-3-1 gave Marquette problems early
John Beilein is known for a few things like his 1-3-1 defense and recruiting Mike Gansey and Kevin Pitsnoggle. Marquette had all sorts of issues with it. They were turning the ball over like it was 2014 or 2015. Marquette had 14 turnovers in the first half which is more than they had in the first two games combined. Bright spot though, they only had one in the second half and it was very early on. That being said, this is poor execution and planning from the coaching staff. You know this is what the defense Michigan will show and your team acts surprised like that Swaggy P meme.

Tomorrow is a new day
Good news for Marquette is they can’t even think about this loss. They play Pittsburgh at 4:30 EST on Friday afternoon. That’s a good thing for this team, and hopefully, this Michigan game is a wake-up call. Blowouts in college basketball happen, and it’s just Marquette ran into a buzzsaw.

Players of the Game
Luke Fischer (Marquette) Zak Irvin (Michigan) – Fischer had some real issues on defense tonight, but I did like some of his offensive things. He finished with 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting with five rebounds. Not a bad night in the office. Zak Irvin was awesome for Michigan. He finished with 15 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Marquette had zero answer for him.

Next up
As noted, Golden Eagles will play Pittsburgh in a mid-afternoon matinee at The Garden. This will be weird seeing Kevin Stallings versus Jamie Dixon on the sidelines. Pitt can rain threes like Michigan did and put up some points. This isn’t your older brother’s Pittsburgh team.

Charlie.