If it were a horror movie, Monday night’s Louisville-Marquette game might have been titled “To the Woodshed II, the Sequel.”
Louisville spanked the Golden Eagles 71-54 in the eerily subdued Bradley Center, a performance that was strikingly similar to its 71-51 drubbing of Marquette at Freedom Hall three weeks ago.
In that game, the Cardinals held the Golden Eagles to their season-low point total and a season-worst 30.4 percent shooting. Only some garbage-time latitude enabled Marquette to surpass those numbers Monday. The Eagles shot 32 percent in suffering their worst home loss since a 23-point beating by Alabama-Birmingham in February 2005.
“They’re one of the best transition teams in the country, but if you can keep them out of transition and make them play half court, you’ve got a shot,” coach Rick Pitino said after Louisville improved to 17-6 overall and 7-3 in the Big East.
Marquette’s only flurry came at the start of the second half, when it cut Louisville’s 12-point halftime edge to single digits. Cardinals guard Jerry Smith, a sophomore from neighboring Wauwatosa, Wis., promptly hit back-to-back threes to give Louisville a 14-point lead.
As most of the crowd of 17,736 headed into the Milwaukee night, the Golden Eagles (16-5, 6-4) were left to contemplate Saturday’s trip to improving Notre Dame.
Marquette’s Dominic James (flu) didn’t start for the first time in his three-year career and had just eight points in 18 minutes. Wes Matthews led the Golden Eagles with 15. Louisville’s Edgar Sosa had 18.
“We let them throw the first punch and we didn’t recover,” Matthews said. “You don’t feel so bad if you know you competed and left it all on the floor, but I don’t think we can say that tonight.”
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dmcgrath@tribune.com
