Frank: Marquettelost its own version of the ACC Challenge, giving up double-digit leads in the second half to both FloridaState and N.C. State.But before that the Golden Eagles got quality wins over Xavier and Michigan, which wasranked 15th at the time.
Artie: Talk about quality wins,wow, the Badgers looked good against Duke—a team that was No. 5 or 6, dependingon the poll, and was 10-0 in the Big Ten-ACC series. And the ESPN broadcast wasenjoyable because Bob Knight was terrific!
Frank: It must pain a lot offolks to say it, but Knight sure knows what he's talking about. Even if he isone of the world's all-time jerks.
Artie: You'd never know itlistening to him. He was so informative and relaxed. It was like sitting at thegame with your best buddy who knows everything about hoops.
Frank: The Badgers gutted it out,73-69, after some late three-pointers put Duke in position to grab the gameaway. UW won't ever run anyone out of the gym; they're just not that type ofteam. But the box score had them with just four turnovers.
Artie: That's true Bo Ryanbasketball. They don't beat themselves, they have that swing offense that keepsmoving the ball around, they're not afraid to use the clock, they play thetraditional UW good defense and they rebound.
Frank: You see their starting bigmen and you're tempted, in a stereotyping way, to think these white guys areplodders. And yes, Jon Leuer and Keaton Nankivil aren't the quickest guys inthe world. But they can shoot, and they don't need to be super-quick becauseRyan's offense spreads the floor sowell.
Artie: Early in high school Leuerwas like 6-foot-1 and played guard. Hence his ball-handling and shootingskills, which have carried over now that he's 6-10. Plus he's bulked up thisyear. And Bo will have him for another season.
Frank: Ryan obviously recruitsthe right players for the system. Trevon Hughes knows he's not going to average25 points or 20 shots a game, and he doesn't try to. Same thing last year withMarcus Landry. This is a team!
Artie: Given the departures ofLandry and Joe Krabbenhoft, the Badgers weren't thought of highly, especiallysince the Big Ten is supposed to be very strong. Most people have the Badgersin the middle of the conference at best.
Frank: If the team that beat Dukeis middling Big Ten, that's one loaded conference.
Artie: The thing is, UW shouldnever be underestimated. Bo's teams always show up and have a good season.
Frank: They'll get out-quickedsome nights, but they'll never get out-hustled. Ryan is just a hell of a coach.
Artie: With four Division IIInational championships at UW-Platteville to prove it.
Frank: Buzz Williams at Marquette doesn't havethose credentials, but I feel the same way about his coaching skills. Lastseason he had an undermanned, undersized team right in the thick of the BigEast title hunt almost to the end. That team had senior stars in WesleyMatthews, Jerel McNeal and Dominic James, but it earned everything it got bygiving everything it had. And that has to have something to do with Williams.
Artie: This season is the samefor Marquettebecause they still have no real height and not much depth. They lost their onebig guy with any experience, Chris Otule, for the season with a broken foot.And they lost their expected starting point guard, Junior Cadougan, to a rupturedAchilles'.
Frank: Against N.C. Statethey used only seven players, with four of the starters playing 33 minutes ormore. For the second straight season, Lazar Hayward will have to do that everygame against all the "aircraft carriers" in the Big East.
Artie: So will Jimmy Butler, whoI think is a really versatile player. We saw him get 19 points and 12 boardsagainst the Wolfpack. I think he can be a major force, and he's only a junior.
Frank: Butlerand Hayward arelisted at 6-6, which means the Golden Eagles will have to rely on quickness andoutside shooting.
Artie: If they're not hitting,how many rebounds will they be able to get? The margin for error will be prettysmall.
Frank: Haywardand Butler are pretty crafty at snaking theirway to the rim, but in the second half against N.C. Statethe whole team went cold. None of their returning shooters is as reliable asMatthews and McNeal were.
Artie: Still, the most surprisingthing in the N.C. State game was how MU'sdefense fell apart. The Wolfpack made 20 of 28 shots in the second half!
Frank: Last year's team wasutterly relentless on defense and this year's was the same against Xavier and Michigan—and in building an 11-point halftime leadagainst N.C. State. But really, it was an offensive breakdown by MU that let theWolfpack revive.
Artie: There were 14 steals bythe guys in red. That's alarming.
Frank: I checked theplay-by-play, and nine of the steals were in the second half. Four came in thefirst 2 1/2 minutes after the break, and in that same period MU was committingfour other turnovers.
Artie: Maybe they were upsetbecause their fellow student didn't win $10,000 in the "shoot for yourtuition" contest at halftime. Still, the Eagles fought back and the finalmargin was just 77-73. It shows how a few three-pointers can keep you in thegame, provided the other team cooperates by missing free throws, as N.C. Statedid, ain’a?
Frank: Despite the lapses againstthe two ACC teams, I think Williams will have MU's intensity up as they go intoBig East play. They'll need it; two of their first four conference games areagainst Villanova, which the Big East preseason poll pegged to finish first.
Artie: And of course theintensity will be there against UW!
Frank: Ryan and Williams arequite similar in one regard; they get their kids to play hard. The styles aredifferent; UW is more disciplined on offense and MU gambles more on defense.But those teams will be in each other's faces all night, battling to establishthe tempo they want.
Artie: How Sports Illustrated could predict that neither of these teams will make the NCAA tournament is justnuts.
Don’t Forget the Panthers
Frank: UW-Milwaukee, or just"Milwaukee,"as they like to call it now, had a chance to go 2-0 in the Horizon League butlost at home to Loyola.
Artie: That's rough, since Loyolawas dead last in the league's preseason poll. The Panthers' big problem istheir shooting.
Frank: Last season they shot justover 39% overall. This year they were shooting 41.5% through nine games, butonly 32.8% in their two league games, both at home.
Artie: They've got good seniorstarters in guard Ricky Franklin and James Eayrs, the Prince Fielder of collegehoops who surprised people last year with his versatility. But last year'sleading scorer, Tone Boyle, hasn't played yet this season because of a badback.
Frank: When the Panthers resumeconference play in January, they'll face the always-tough Butlerand UW-Green Bay pretty early.
Artie: Last year they were 17-14overall and 11-9 in the Horizon. Improving on that means improving theshooting.
