Postgame Notes & Quotes - Central Michigan - Marquette University Athletics

Dec. 2, 2008

Postgame Notes - MU vs. Central Michigan

Senior guard Dominic James became the 12^th player in Marquette history to score over 1,500 career points with his 3-pointer at the 15:23 mark in the first half. James also passed Don Kojis on the program's all-time scoring list with 15 points tonight. Now with 1,513 career points, James ranks 11^th all-time at MU in scoring.
MU's longest run of the game was an 11-0 run minutes into the second half. MU held Central Michigan scoreless for three minutes, 42 seconds during the stretch.
MU used an 11-2 run later in the contest - highlighted by back-to-back 3-pointers by Maurice Acker and Lazar Hayward -- to extend its lead to 20 points.
Marquette has had at least three players score in double figures in each of its seven games this season. Senior guard Wesley Matthews led four Golden Eagles scoring in double figures with 18 points. Matthews has now led the team in scoring six times this season.
Entering tonight's game, senior guard Wesley Matthews ranked first in the nation in free throws made per game (9.3) and second in attempts. Matthews was perfect from the line against CMU, going 10-of-10 from the charity stripe.
As a team, Marquette shot a season-high 81.6 percent (31-of-38) from the foul line. The Golden Eagles' 31 makes from the charity stripe was also a season-high.
Marquette matched a team season-high in blocks (6) against CMU. Senior forward Dwight Burke and sophomore guard Jimmy Butler each had a career-high two blocked shots.

Postgame Quotes - MU vs. Central Michigan

MU Head Coach Buzz Williams:

Opening statements-

I thought offensively that it was probably our second best game; the numbers don't completely reflect it. Obviously against Northern Iowa we were really good, I thought we only took one bad shot all game long and it was in the second half on a scrambled play. We have to do a lot better job on the offensive glass. Tonight we out rebounded them overall but we can't give up 18 offensive rebounds. That is a credit specifically to number 34 (CMU's Jacolby Hardiman). We had a season high with 18 turnovers, nine of which came from (Jerel) or (Wesley). That's too many. Those two guys along with (Dominic) will handle the ball more than any other guys. But we can't afford to give away 18 possessions.

I thought Dominic continues to play at a phenomenal level. Seven rebounds tonight was a season high, which is important. All of our guys, with an exception of Wes, got a season high I believe when it comes to rebounding. We have only been out rebounded once and that was Saturday against Dayton, and they shot 54 percent.

On free throw disparity-

We keep a lot of different stats and one of those is that we want to make more free throws than our opponent attempts. I think that has happened in all but two games. We really did a great job of getting the ball to the paint and play off of that. They played off of one another at such a high level.

On free throw practice-

My thought was 'Do you practice riding your bike?' Those kids have grown up playing ball their whole life. You step to the line and make free throws. Your shot doesn't change. Just like when you ride a bike, it doesn't matter how long it's been since you have ridden a bike, but your mind needs to be ready to make a free throw. When we shoot 64 percent I need to be willing to answer that question, but I am also going to be willing to answer that when we shoot 82 percent. No we don't shoot free throws. Step to the line and shoot to make and be mentally tough enough to make them.

On the upcoming Wisconsin game-

I am excited to coach. I was excited to coach Central Michigan. I am glad I'm still employed here. I know that wins are hard to get and Coach (Bo) Ryan is a Hall of Fame coach and they have an incredible program. They are deserving of anything that is said or written or talked about.

You have to be mentally tough to play Wisconsin because they are not going to beat themselves and they are going to grind out every single possession. And that is why the value of every possession is monumental. We will have to be at our absolute best.

Senior Guard Dominic James:

There was definitely an emphasis coming into this game knowing that we gave up a lot of easy baskets in the last game. We can't give up easy baskets and easy drives to the paint. I felt like we did better but we didn't finish the play out. They had 18 offensive rebounds and we can't have that especially with a team like that.

On a rhythm to the game-

Wins are hard to come by. You have to go out there with the right mindset. Without that flow it was frustrating as a player but it's just a grind. Obviously they didn't want to play an un-and-down game with us so they tried to take the air out of the ball. I feel like we played well and we played within ourselves. We shot the three the best that we have all year. We didn't shoot that many but that is aggressive play, getting into the paint and creating for others.

Coach Buzz never has us practice free throws, he says it is toughness and it is all in your head. If we don't get into the gym and get shots up on our own, we aren't going to do it in practice. We have to continue to be mentally tough. We always want to beat our opponent to the bonus and we did that tonight.

After the loss you want to get that feeling out of you as soon as possible and I am glad that we came out and played together as a team tonight.

On the match-up with Wisconsin-

We will be ready for Saturday. That will be a fun game. There will be a lot of hype surrounding it. I am anxious and I know that my team is anxious to get back tomorrow, get ready for practice and get ready for our next opponent.

We already have a loss so we feel like its get-back time. We really need this win and with the schedule that we have coming up, especially in conference, Its one of those games that looks great on your resume. We know its early to start talking about that, but with us being mature guys we know what's at stake.