Markus Howard did not play on Wednesday night due to concussion-like symptons. Marquette faced one of their lesser opponents of their non-conference schedule with Jacksonville. In the first half, they were dominant leading by 23 points at halftime. They had a lackluster second half where they didn’t exactly let the Dolphins back in, but they didn’t extend their lead at all. Steve Wojciechowski expressed his disappointment in his team’s second half performance. And for good reason, Marquette sagged off and just played through the motions to finish the game. That said, they won the game by 19 and didn’t sweat it all.

Player of the Game: Sacar Anim – Great night for Sacar. He took over the role of Howard and played great on Wednesday. Anim finished with 19 points, four rebounds and an offensive rating of 109. It is early in the year, but Anim might be more of the second banana than Koby McEwen. Whatever he went through in the first part of the season appears to be over. He is rolling right now and displaying a great inside/out game.

Honorable Mention: Jamal Cain – One of the best parts of the young Marquette season is Jamal Cain. He took his game to another level. He played really well in this game. Cain finished with eight points and a career-high 12 rebounds in 27 minutes. Cain received starter minutes coming off the bench. The continued strong play of Cain pushes Brendan Bailey to be better. Good competition between teammates is always a good thing.

One Thing to Watch: Koby McEwen’s body langauge – What an ugly game for Koby McEwen. He had seven points, missed six 3-pointers. McEwen seemed frustrated all game long. It is a small sample size, but he has only made eight field goal attempts inside the three-point line. He hasn’t been good finishing at the rim. McEwen thought that it was his show last night and didn’t seem exactly pleased it was not. I hope this is just a blip on a radar.

Next up: Marquette will head to Manhattan, Kansas for a late-night showdown against Kansas State. The big thing that stands out to me and scares me about this game is Marquette ranks 249th in turnover percentage while Kansas State’s defense is second in all of college basketball. That’s worrisome for a big road win. I will point out that the Wildcats have played next to no one and lost to Bradley and Pittsburgh who were the two best teams they’ve faced this season.

Charlie.