Domination By Marquette

There are times that if you look at a scoreboard, a game can look closer than it really was. The textbook example is Marquette-Miami. The final score was 71-61. It wasn't nearly that close. Marquette controlled this game from start to finish. 

Losing Reggie Johnson was a killer for the Hurricanes. It gave the Marquette plenty of easy points in the paint. It made it extremely difficult for Miami to hit shots from inside. That can be a major problem when you shoot as cold from outside as Miami did tonight. Yes, the Canes ended up shooting 35% (which isn't good), but they hovered below the 30% mark for much of the game. You'll be hard pressed to compete in games like that, especially when the other team is shooting over 50%.

It was just a balanced offensive attack by the Golden Eagles. Vander Blue scored 14 points. Jamil Wilson led with 16 points, including 3 for 4 from 3. Devante Gardner and Chris Otule added points inside, scoring 14 and 11, respectively. Once again, Buzz Williams found a way to coach every bit of talent out of Marquette and finally takes them to the Elite 8.

This is the Golden Eagles first Elite 8 appearance since 2003, when Dwyane Wade carried them there. Like '03, Marquette's a 3-seed. Indiana-Syracuse winner will have their hands full on Saturday.