Marquette Golden Eagles were flying high a couple of weeks ago. They beat Creighton on a Monday night. This would be their second top 10 victory in the shortened season. Marquette had a great resume with many Big East games to play. But then things started to get ugly. It is almost like Creighton’s win was fool’s gold. Marquette continued to fall apart. Seton Hall, Xavier, and Villanova all had warts, but Villanova was the biggest boil. Marquette got ran off the floor by a Villanova team that is good, but they’re not world-beaters. Golden Eagles have a major problem.

What went wrong for Marquette: Their defense is a fucking mess – You have to wonder if Brian Hamilton of The Athletic regrets the piece he did on Wojo. Mubb Twitter likes to give him shit, but Hamilton seems like one of the good ones. Regardless, this defense has cratered. And it doesn’t seem like there is anything that Wojo can do to fix it. This is a constant problem. And while I know Wojo is seen as a deity by the program, you have to think boosters are going to start getting tired of this shit. How can this team continue to be this porous on defense? Constant problems are more on the coaches than the players.

What went also went wrong for Marquette: Don’t blame fatigue, you clown – The fact Wojo had the audacity to blame fatigue for Marquette’s failures is fucking ridiculous. Marquette has barely had class. They haven’t traveled much. There is no reason for these guys to be tired. They play in an AAU world where five games a day could happen. If they’re tired, it’s your fucking fault for pushing too hard at practice. There is no reason for Marquette to be fatigued at this point. Look at Northwestern State, a small school out of Louisiana, they played three games in three days with two being against top-ranked Gonzaga, and in their last game against Washington State, they only lost by 12. That shows guts. Do you think those guys were tired?

What went right for Marquette: Their offense was actually good! – Here’s the maddening thing. They were better offensively than Villanova in terms of the advanced metrics. They have a great offense but a piss poor defense. If they were just average, Marquette might have beat Xavier and Nova. Instead, they 1 and fucking 3 like usual.

Player of the Game: Collin Gillespie – Does Nova have white guys in a factory or what?
Honorable Mention: Jamal Cain

Next up: Marquette gets a long break before playing Georgetown on Saturday. It will be a road affair for the Golden Eagles. I hope the Big East knows what they’re doing with this extended break. Part of me worries this is how a COVID outbreak can start, but I trust their protocols. Georgetown-Marquette might be the first to 100 wins in the game. It’s a must for Marquette if they want to think about the tournament.

Charlie.