Marquette Golden Eagles went to Madison for their first true road game of the year. With three losses on the year, Golden Eagles knew a lost at the Kohl Center could damage their tournament resume leaving little room for error in conference play. That didn’t happen. Wisconsin came into the game shorthanded as D’Mitrick Trice and Kobe King both were out with injuries, and Marquette took full advantage. They made 14 threes in a 19-point rout where the game really wasn’t close from the start of it. It’s the first time the Golden Eagles have won back-to-back games in Madison since the early 80’s, and their largest margin of victory since 1994.

A little bit of Howard, a little bit of Rowsey
Marquette showed why they’re a hard team to beat on Saturday with the combination of Markus Howard and Andrew Rowsey. Both players dealt with foul trouble early on in this game. Rowsey picked up three fouls in the first half due in large part to a technical that resulted in two fouls. Howard picked up the slack for him with a strong first half. Then when Howard goes out with his third early on a bullshit offensive foul, Rowsey responds and helps put Marquette back out to double digits. Howard finished with 23 points and Rowsey with 24. Both were fantastic.

Matt Heldt continues to shine in underrated role
I have a small group chat with two Marquette fans, and both of them said Matt Heldt was the player of the game. I can’t disagree with them. He did great work protecting the paint. Every time Wisconsin came close to the basket, it felt like Heldt was there ready to defend. He finished with eight points and five rebounds but his role felt bigger in this game. With Harry Froling set to join the team, Marquette suddenly has some size inside with Theo John, Heldt and Froling. That’s only going to make things more versatile and exciting for this team.

Sam Hauser continues to haunt Wisconsin’s fans dreams
A few years ago, I wondered what Marquette may have looked like with a different Sam from Wisconsin… Dekker, the talented forward, who seemed out of place at times in Bo Ryan’s system. I wonder if Badgers fans feel the same way about Hauser. He didn’t really get looked at by the team or Ryan, and he’s made them pay ever since. Hauser finished with 16 points and four threes with a couple of them coming at big moments of this game.

Next up
Marquette will get nine days off for finals before they play Northern Illinois a week from today. It will be the debut of Froling, so, it will be interesting to see how Steve Wojciechowski works him into the rotation. Hope it doesn’t mean less minutes for John.

Charlie.