#6 Marquette vs. #11 Utah State

Hey guys, Chuck updated me this week, saying that he has seen some grade A chica's in the DR, so all the power to him. Here is my preview for Thursdays game. Lets start it off with a few stats...

#6 Marquette Golden Eagles- 24-9 overall, 12-6 in the Big East
Leading Scorers for MU...

Pos. PPG, RPG, APG

Jerel McNeal	G	19.7	4.6	4.0
Wesley Matthews	G	18.4	5.6	2.6
Lazar Hayward	F	16.1	8.6	1.2
Dominic James	G	11.4	3.5	5.1
Jimmy Butler	G-F	5.7	4.0	0.7

#11 Utah State Aggies- 30-4 overall, 14-2 in the WAC
Leading Scorers for Utah State...

Pos., PPG, RPG, APG

Gary Wilkinson	F	17.1	6.9	1.3
Jared Quayle	G	12.9	5.9	3.7
Tai Wesley	F	11.9	6.1	2.7
Tyler Newbold	G-F	9.1	4.2	3.2
Stavon Williams	G	6.2	1.3	1.4

In my opinion, this is one of the toughest #6-#11 matchups that the Golden Eagles could have gotten. They would be able to beat VCU, Dayton, and Temple.

Keys for Marquette- If Marquette expects to win this game, they are going to need to get on the break and in a hurry. No more of this take twenty five seconds in the shot clock just so Jerel Mcneal can jack up a misguided three. I love the kid to death, but he is trying way too damn hard, PASS THE BALL JEREL. The thing is though, Marquette doesnt even need to have an amazing shooting night in order to win. Just like in the Louisville, Syracuse and Villinova games, all we need to do is play shut down defense and rebound rebound rebound. We need Jimmy Butler to keep doing what he has been doing, as well as Dwight Burke. Burke just needs to get physical on Gary Wilkinson, who is a 6-9 245lb MONSTER down low. He is their leading scorer and rebounder, so focus should be on him, while still contesting every single three point attempt.

Keys for the Aggies- If you want to win this game, have a guy hounding Jerel the whole game. When Jerel has a good defender on him, he tends to want to show the defender up and jacks threes and tries to force shots. You also need to keep an eye on Jimmy Butler on the boards, this kid has been a workhorse on the glass the past 6 games. One last thing, do not let Marquette run on you, otherwise you will lose by 30.

That is all I have for now, it is a busy week for me, but I will have recaps of the major upsets this week, as well as a recap of the Play-in Game tonight which puts Morehead St. vs Alabama St., both teams that have not been to the tourney in a while, and in desperate need of a Tourney Berth.

Giddyup