No time for hangovers here in Milwaukee as Marquette and Villanova are locked in a tight one. Thus far, it’s been a relatively low-scoring affair (which one would expect as ‘Nova enters the game allowing just 57.6 ppg). The Golden Eagles lead on the strength of 13 points from Jerel McNeal (including a last second jumper to end the half) and nine points from Dominic James. Marquette’s frontcourt has been ineffective (save for Lazar Hayward), and forward Dwight Burke went through a stretch where he came on the floor for one second, committed a foul, and headed back to the bench. Not surprising.

The Wildcats have gotten 11 points from Corey Fisher and eight from Scottie Reynolds. Its been a physical contest thus far, with Villanova focusing on denying the Marquette guards’ ability to drive to the hoop. Also, and this isn’t necessarily relevant, but I’ve seen about five travels called today. I’m not sure I’ve seen that many in two full years covering this team. Just saying.

Play has been pretty even thus far, but Marquette has to be careful of falling in love with the 3-point shot (they took 13 in the first half, making five) in the second half. Oh and my mom has informed me that she saw me at the game on TV, and that I looked cute. Thanks, mom.

More on this one after it wraps up.

Here’s a quick look at today’s game between No. 25 Marquette and No. 13 Villanova in Milwaukee.

Probable starting lineups (season stats in parenthesis):

Marquette:

G Dominic James (10.9 ppg, 5.2 apg)

G Jerel McNeal (17.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg)

G Wes Matthews (19.2 ppg, 5.7 rpg)

F Laar Hayward (17.2 ppg, 9.5 rpg)

F Dwight Burke (2.5 ppg, 3.7 rpg)

Villanova:

G Scottie Reynolds (14.2 ppg, 4.4 apg)

G Dwayne Anderson (4.3 ppg, 3.2 rpg)

G Corey Stokes (11.4 ppg, 3.6 rpg)

F Antonio Pena (7.2 ppg, 6.2 rpg)

F Dante Cunningham (16.9 ppg, 7.5 rpg)

Today’s game will be the Big East conference opener for both teams. Villanova (12-1) is coming off a 62-45 win over Temple on December 29. Marquette (11-2) earned an 84-45 win over Presbyterian December 28.

The Golden Eagles will have to watch out for forward Dante Cunningham, who tallied a double-double (14 points, 10 rebounds) when the two teams last faced each other (an 85-75 Marquette win). Also dangerous is junior guard Scottie Reynolds.

For the Golden Eagles, Wesley Matthews continues to lead the team in scoring, but fellow guards Dominic James and Jerel McNeal, as well as forward Lazar Hayward, are also averaging double-digit points.

We’ll have more on this one as we go.

Here’s a quick look at No. 24 Marquette (7-1) vs. IPFW (4-5) in Milwaukee this afternoon.

Starting lineups (season stats in parenthesis):

Marquette:

G Dominic James (11.5 ppg, 5.1 apg)

G Jerel McNeal (18.5 ppg, 5.0 rpg)

G Wesley Matthews (20.4 ppg, 5.9 rpg)

F  Lazar Hayward (15.8 ppg, 9.6 rpg)

F Dwight Burke (1.9 ppg, 3.5 rpg)

IPFW:

G Nick Daniels (7.6 ppg, 3.8 rpg)

G Zach Plackemeier (7.4 ppg, 3.6 apg)

G Ben Botts (11.7 ppg, 2.6 rpg)

F David Carson (15.2 ppg, 5.4 rpg)

F Deilvez Yearby (8.2 ppg, 6.1 rpg)

Marquette is coming off a 61-58 win over Wisconsin on Dec. 6, and is looking to protect an unblemished 6-0 home record at the Bradley Center today. You worry a little bit about a letdown here though, since most Marquette students have headed home for winter break (as I write this, there are about 300 fans in the arena 22 minutes before game time). IPFW topped Valpo 63-46 last time out.

We should also see the debut of junior forward Joseph Fulce for Marquette today. Fulce missed the team’s first seven games with a stress reaction in his right knee. He’ll probably just play a few minutes here and there, but it’ll be interesting how coach Buzz Williams utilizes his length.

We’ll have more on this one as we go.

Here’s a few of the highlights from tonight’s press conference:

Coach Buzz Williams on why sophomore forward Patrick Hazel couldn’t get off the bench:
“You play in accordance with how you practice, and (Hazel) didn’t earn the right to play…He’s helped us in the first six games, and we appreciate that, but he hasn’t had good days in practice…We’re judged in accordance with our production, and we’ve gotta work.”

More on that to come.

Senior guard Dominic James on his team’s free throw shooting at practice (the Golden Eagles made 31-of-38 Monday):
“With coach Buzz, we never practice free throws. He feels like it’s all with toughness, you know it’s all in your head. If we’re not getting in the gym and getting shots up on our own, we’re not getting practice.”

For the record, James is shooting 48.6 percent from the line this year. Just saying.

James on Saturday’s in-state rivalry game against Wisconsin:
“Oh, we’ll be ready for Saturday, that’ll be a fun game. There’s going to be a lot of hype surrounding it. I’m anxious, and I know my team’s anxious.”

It’s a final here in Milwaukee, where Marquette beat Central Michigan 81-67. The Golden Eagles shook off their first loss of the season (against Dayton last Saturday) by showing a renewed focus on driving the ball on offense. Find the recap right about here.

A few musings from the contest:

- Sophomore forward Patrick Hazel must be in coach Buzz Williams’ doghouse. He didn’t play a minute in this one, even though walk-on Robert Frozena played one minute (and scored two points). It wasn’t because senior forward Dwight Burke was blowing the world away either — Burke’s lone highlight came on a garbage-time tip dunk. That’s probably the third or fourth good play I’ve seen him make at Marquette.

- Central Michigan fell in love with the 3-point shot in this contest. The Chippewas were 4-of-25 (16 percent) from three. Marquette, on the other hand, resisted its normal urges and took just nine threes, making four.

- Marquette senior guard Wesley Matthews had another solid game, scoring 18 points and grabbing three boards. He’s by far Marquette’s best free throw shooter too, and went 10-of-10 from the line in this one.

We’ll get you some quotes when they’re available.

Halftime here in Milwaukee, where Marquette leads Central Michigan 36-27. The Golden Eagles, coming off a loss to Dayton in which they shot just 4-for-20 from behind the 3-point line, look to be making a concentrated effort to get the ball inside against the Chippewas.

Marquette has 16 points in the paint, and has attempted just four three pointers (making two). Central Michigan hasn’t had much trouble scoring inside either (18 points), but has been much less conservative from three (2-for-11).

Marquette forward Dwight Burke (one point, three rebounds) has played sparingly, mostly because he’s been horribly ineffective (all season, really). Still no Patrick Hazel sighting, even though the sophomore forward had been averaging more minutes than Burke on the season.

Here’s a look at No. 25 Marquette (5-1) vs. Central Michigan (2-3) tonight in Milwaukee.

Probable starters (season stats in parenthesis):
Marquette:
G Dominic James (11.2 ppg, 5.7 apg)
G Jerel McNeal (18.0 ppg, 4.8 rpg)
G Wesley Matthews (22.7 ppg, 6.8 rpg)
F Lazar Hayward (17.2 ppg, 9.3 rpg)
F Dwight Burke (1.8 ppg, 3.2 rpg)

Central Michigan:
G Jeremy Allen (14.6 ppg, 4.2 rpg)
G Robbie Harman (10.4 ppg, 3.0 apg)
G Antonio Weary (2.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg)
F Chris Kellermann (16.2 ppg, 6.4 rpg)
F Jacolby Hardiman (8.6 ppg, 7.2 rpg)

Marquette is looking to rebound after a disappointing 89-75 loss to Dayton in the final round of the Chicago Invitational over the Thanksgiving weekend. That loss highlighted some of the Golden Eagles’ biggest flaws – an inability to defend without fouling and poor outside shooting.

Marquette shot just 20 percent from three in the game against the Flyers and will look to improve that number tonight, since coach Buzz Williams seems to be content with his squad chucking between 20-25 3-pointers per contest. It’s pretty likely that we’ll see more penetration from Marquette tonight though.

For Central Michigan, forwards Jeremy Allen and Chris Kellermann will be the focal points of an offense averaging 64.8 points per game (Marquette averages 89 ppg). That’ll put pressure on Marquette’s shaky frontcourt duo of Dwight Burke and Patrick Hazel.

More on this one as we go.

It’s a final here in Hoffman Estates, Ill., where Dayton beat Marquette 89-75 in the final round of the Chicago Invitational.

First of all, the Golden Eagles came out wearing their powder blue uniforms, a sure sign that tough times were in store. Any Marquette fan would tell you the same thing.

As far as the actual game was concerned, Marquette couldn’t find a way to score consistently on offense. The Golden Eagles’ penchant for shooting three pointers – something they got away with in the first two games – came back to bite them as they shot just 20.0 percent (4-of-20) from behind the arc against Dayton.

Marquette coach Buzz Williams didn’t seem to mind the number of 3-point shots (27) the Golden Eagles took in a win against Northern Iowa. I’ll venture a guess that he’s changed his tune tonight.

Marquette turned the ball over 14 times, leading to 18 Dayton points. The Flyers’ bench also outscored the Golden Eagles’ 48-5 (including an 18-0 mark in the first half). Marquette’s transition game – normally a strength – was essentially neutralized as both teams scored four fast-break points.

Basically, Marquette was flat outplayed tonight. Forward Chris Wright led the Flyers with 13 points and 13 rebounds. Guard Rob Lowery had 21 points and guard Chris Johnson added 12 points and 11 boards. The Golden Eagles got 28 points from guard Wesley Matthews and 19 points from guard Dominic James.