Defense: A
Two points. That is what Wisconsin’s defense held Markus Howard to in the second half. Howard got the better of Wisconsin’s defense in the first half as he was responsible for 16 of Marquette’s 29 first half points as he shot 6-for-12 from the field and 2-for-3 from three.
In one instance in the first half, he scored nine straight points against Wisconsin’s defense. Although Howard was able to have success against Wisconsin’s offense in the first half the Badgers defenders made sure he couldn’t get any easy buckets.
Between Trice, Davison, and King, all had their chance of trying to slow Howard down. Trice was on Howard primarily and did a good enough job of making sure Howard had at least a hand in his face when he attempted a shot.
Howard attempted nine field goals in the second half, but made none of his shot attempts as his two points came from the free throw line with 10:07 to go in the game.
What helped Wisconsin in the second half defensively was the Badgers were active making sure wherever Howard was there was somebody who could get a hand in his face to at least contest the shot. Wisconsin’s ability to frustrate Howard in the second half threw him off his game as it made somebody else from the Golden Eagles beat Wisconsin.
Koby McEwen did his best to keep Marquette in the game as his19 points led the team. McEwen went 5-for-9 from the field and made all four of his 3-point attempts.
Marquette was able to have success from three against Wisconsin’s defense as they finished the game 9-for-19 (47.4 percent) as five of their 10 made field goals in the first half came from 3-point range. Overall Wisconsin’s defense was able to hold Marquette to shoot just 37.3 percent (19-for-51) from the field.
With how dangerous Howard is as a scorer, it was important that Wisconsin didn’t allow Marquette many second chances. Overall Marquette finished the game with five offensive rebounds, which they turned into only three points. Due to the limited second chances, it made sure Marquette could never get into a rhythm on offense.
With Wisconsin’s defense being active throughout the game it allowed for them to find ways of forcing Marquette into making a mistake with the basketball. Marquette finished the game with 15 turnovers as Howard and McEwen each had four turnovers. Wisconsin’s offense did a good job of taking the turnovers they forced on the defensive end and cashing them into points as Wisconsin finished the game with 19 points. Six of the 15 turnovers Wisconsin created came off of steals as Trice finished with three.