Automatic reading

Thumbnails poster

Show captions

Last slide next

Striker Sam Hauser of Marquette fouls Indiana goalkeeper Romeo Langford in the first half.(Photo: Trevor Ruszkowski / USA TODAY Sports)

BLOOMINGTON, IND. – Marquette quickly took the lead in reality Wednesday night.

With their first appearance in the top 25 in the Associated Press in nearly five years, the Golden Eagles were wrecked with an evisceration of 96 to 73 by Indiana in a rowdy meeting room.

"People are saying how good our team is and that sort of thing," said MU head coach Steve Wojciechowski, whose team ranked 24th in the AP poll. from this week. "We are not a very good team at the moment, it's the reality and it's been exposed tonight."

"So we have to go much better."

The game started badly for MU (2-1) and was never much better.

Junior goaltender Markus Howard nibbled the ball on two of the Golden Eagles' first three possessions, helping Indiana (3-0) take 8-2 advantage before Wojciechowski took a break from 17:25.

The Hoosiers advance went up to 19-4 before MU took another break.

The Golden Eagles reduced the deficit to seven in the middle of the first half. But Indiana had a quick response, building the advantage at 47-34 at halftime and leading by 28 points in the second half.

THE SCORE OF THE BOX: Indiana 96, Marquette 73

Strong home defensive performances against Maryland-Baltimore County and Bethune-Cookman have allowed speculation that MU has improved at this location.

But MU's defense has returned to the ugly form of recent seasons, allowing Indiana to shoot 35 out of 55 (63.6%).

The Golden Eagles defense was often in scrambling mode after the offensive spat the ball 14 times.

"In the first eight minutes of the match, they were 7 out of 8 at the time of the transition," Wojciechowski said. "And that's the result of live ball shifts where there was no one between the guy who stole the ball and the basket. It will be difficult to get a good percentage of goals on the defensive ground.

"And then in the second half, I thought we were playing very softly in the painting, again, everything is my responsibility, not for the players, but for me to make them play better and stronger. "

Howard echoed his coach's feelings.

"I think we just have to fight," he said. "I think we've lost our sense of combat and competitiveness, you can not have that, especially when you're on the road against a big team like Indiana.

"We have been exposed a bit … and we can not have that."

Howard was the focal point of Indiana's defense and he was harassed by 6-on-14 shots. He finished with four turnovers and four assists.

"I have to wait for this now from the teams," Howard said. "I have to prepare for this and continue to improve."

The Golden Eagles seemed to have been sped up by Indiana 's defense and had never found a rhythm.

"You will not score after a pass or after a ball screen," Wojciechowski said. "There must be several turns of balls, several penetrations, either dribbling or post-feed.

"And then something after that could open – I thought we were trying to score after no (pass) or a pass and it's just a recipe for a disaster."

Junior Wing Sam Hauser was the only brilliant spot in attack in the first half, scoring 14 points. He finished with 18.

He hopes this humiliating defeat will help a team from MU who added some key pieces this season.

"Sometimes you need that to happen to understand how to prepare for such a match," Hauser said. "How to enter the building of someone else and win a party.

"Obviously, for some young people, it's a good learning experience, we will accept that and we will improve."

Howard and Joey Hauser, Sam's first-year brother, also had 18 points. Nobody else scored more than six points for MU.

Romeo Langford, a freshman sensation in Indiana, scored 22 points, a top in the game, to lead a balanced effort.

"We need other guys to progress," Wojciechowski said. "When you look at their total – five double digit guys – that's what good teams do and we have to find a way to get a better balance, more involvement and better execution, then to better defend. "

MU will soon need to improve with a fiery slate off conference, including a date with Kansas in Brooklyn next week.

"We have to take it and learn from it," said Sam Hauser. "And just getting better because we have a busy schedule.

"It's a little bump on the road, but we can take that and learn from it and we'll be better at it."