One sign, a sheet, really, went up in the north stands of the Bradley Center: “Remember ’77.” That was the year Marquette, coached by Al McGuire, won the school’s only national championship. Another sign hung from the music stand of the pep band’s xylophone player: “Thank You, Al.”
Thursday night was “Al’s Night” and was given over to remembering once again the legend who died last month.
George Thompson, the school’s all-time leading scorer who had played under McGuire, was pumping his fists and the crowd was roaring back at him with the school’s old nickname: “Let’s go, Warriors! Let’s go, Warriors!”
“We have lost the ultimate warrior, Coach Al,” Thompson said. Then a ribbon was cut and a rug was moved and there were the words–Al McGuire Court.
That was the emotional wave Marquette (14-10, 9-4 Conference USA) rode over DePaul in an 82-64 rout of the hapless Blue Demons (12-14, 4-9).
In the stands watching his first Demons game of the Pat Kennedy era was Ray Meyer, who once waged wondrous battles with McGuire.
It was instead an encore of so many Demon disasters this season, a replay that again revealed its warts and shortcomings and inability to withstand any kind of pressure.
“We had some major matchup problems,” Kennedy said. “Marquette took advantage of that.”
Those problems were exacerbated by the damaged right ankle that kept forward Bobby Simmons (12 points) on the bench at the start.
That broke Simmons’ string of 89 consecutive collegiate starts. And even when he entered the game, he was too gimpy to guard anyone.
That left Rashon Burno as the primary defender on Eagle point guard Cordell Henry and the Whitney Young grad burned the tiny Demon for 22 points and 10 assists (and only one turnover).
That left Imari Sawyer as the primary defender on Eagle senior guard Brian Wardle and the Hinsdale Center grad burned the freshman Demon for 21 points.
And that left Joe Tulley on Eagle forward Odartey Blankson and he burned the Demons guard for 14 points while also grabbing 11 rebounds.
The Demons, led by Andre Brown’s 19 points, shot 46.3 percent but could never stop the Eagles, who hit 54.2 percent overall and 50 percent on their threes.
“We were able to make some runs, but we couldn’t sustain them,” Kennedy said. But the only run his team truly made came midway through the first half. That brought them from nine down to a tie at 31-31. But in the final four minutes of the half, they repeated the pattern that has most plagued them all season.
Wardle picked off a lazy Sawyer pass, and Wardle hit two free throws. This Demon interlude of ineptitude lasted until halftime.
In this stretch the Eagles went 2-of-3 from the field and 8-of-8 from the line. DePaul, meanwhile, went 1-of-6 from the field and 0-of-1 from the line with three turnovers and went to the locker room down 11.
That was it. Never again would the Demons threaten. Kennedy admitted, “I wouldn’t mind having their whole backcourt.”
“They’re kids who’re full of emotion, full of thoughts,” Marquette coach Tom Crean said of his team. “For them to come out and play with that focus on a night like this, my hat’s off to them. That’s not an easy thing to do. I thought our focus was tremendous.
“They’re growing up.”
