GARY D'AMATO

D'Amato: Marquette has shooter's chance

Gary D'Amato

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Marquette Golden Eagles guard Markus Howard reacts to Marquette's NCAA Tournament bid Sunday. Howard is the leading three-point shooter in the country.

If you polled basketball fans outside the Marquette University community, it’s a safe bet that few would pick the Golden Eagles to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.

After all, even if 10th-seeded MU gets past seventh-seeded South Carolina in a first-round East Regional game at approximately 8:50 p.m. Friday in Greenville, S.C., its next opponent almost assuredly will be Duke, the 10-ton elephant in the bracket.

Turn out the lights, the party’s over, right?

Hold your H-O-R-S-Es. In boxing, an underdog who hits hard is said to have a puncher’s chance. So let’s give Marquette a shooter’s chance, because any team that rips the net as well and as often as the Golden Eagles do has a shot at busting brackets.

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“Definitely,” said freshman point guard Markus Howard. “I feel we shoot better than anybody in the country, so I think with our ability to space the floor and make teams uncomfortable with our players, one through four, being able to spread out and shoot the ball, I think we’re tough to guard.”

The Golden Eagles lead the nation in three-point percentage (43%) and Howard is the individual leader (54.9%). Marquette is No. 5 in three-pointers made per game (10.5) and is No. 15 in overall field-goal percentage (48.7%).

“Any given night, anybody on our team can score upwards of 30 points,” said senior center Luke Fischer. “I think we’re a hard team to scout. You take away the three-point line, we have guys that can finish on the inside; you take away the inside, we have guys that can finish from the three-point line.

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“(We’re) a hard team to guard and a hard team to prepare for and we’re hoping to use that to our advantage.”

Defensive-oriented South Carolina has held opponents to an average of 64.5 points per game this season. MU typically has that many points midway through the second half. The Golden Eagles have scored fewer than 65 just twice and have scored 90 or more nine times — five times against Big East opponents.

“It’s going to be interesting to see what happens, with just a little time (for) preparation,” Howard said. “Playing in the Big East, you get the best of everybody. I think we’re going to be prepared pretty well, just playing against some of the top teams in the country.”

Coach Steve Wojciechowski wouldn’t hate it if his players were as efficient on the other end of the court, but that’s not in this team’s DNA. The Golden Eagles are built to outscore people. More often than not, they do.

“We’ve shown that we can beat the top team in the country,” said Fischer, referring to Marquette’s 74-72 upset of No. 1 Villanova on Jan. 24. “If we play together and strong and smart like we have been for the past month, I think we’ll be very successful.”

In order to win even their first game, the Golden Eagles will have to dance with the one that brung ’em. And if their shots are falling, look out.

“When we’re hot and hitting shots,” Howard said, “I feel we can beat anybody in the country.”