More photos » Phelan M. Ebenhack - AP

3 months ago: Michigan's Eso Akunne, left, fouls Marquette's Lazar Hayward, center, as teammate Anthony Wright helps during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in the Old Spice Classic tournament in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., Friday, Nov. 27, 2009. Marquette won 79-65. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

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2009 Scouting Report / 2009 Game Plan
2009 Stats
2010 Roster
2010 Schedule

Marquette Offense '08-'09

NC State bested Marquette in three of the four factors in their meeting last season but lost a close game thanks to a -8 turnover margin.  This year's Golden Eagles profile about the same--their offense takes good care of the ball, while their defense steals the ball with great frequency--so the first step in avoiding the same outcome is keeping that margin closer to zero.

The second step is finding some way to slow the versatile Lazar Hayward.  Marquette figured to take a performance hit after the departures of Jerel McNeal, Dominic James, and Wesley Matthews, three experienced, effiicient, and heavily-involved contributors a year ago.  Instead they've hardly missed a beat in the early going, thanks largely (very largely) to Hayward's efforts, who has essentially told Buzz Williams, hey no sweat, I'll still do my thing and I'll replace one of those other guys on top of it.

Remember, the average player uses 20% of his team's possessions and takes 20% of the shots.  Hayward is pulling double duty, averaging 26 field goal attempts per 40 minutes, and has somehow managed to handle that efficiently, which is fucking insane.  I suspect he is a robot.  If he keeps this up in conference play, there's no way he is of this earth. 

Anyway, my team of scientists here at BTP world headquarters has concluded that you will want to keep an eye on this dude.

Starters

David Cubillan (6-0, 175) -- After a dreadful year as a reserve in 2009, Cubillan's handling the move into the starting lineup about as well as could be hoped.  But he hardly got a shot in edge-wise last season (13% of the shots) and that hasn't changed, so he probably won't be a significant factor.

Darius Johnson-Odom (6-2, 200) -- A juco transfer who played his high school ball at Wakefield in Raleigh.  He's the only starter aside from Hayward taking more than 20% of the shots and he's been outstanding from three (15-30).

Dwight Buycks (6-3, 190) -- His value extends well beyond the court, as his last name, pronounced "bikes," allows for such headlines as Marquette Rides Buycks To 76-58 Win Over NC State.

Jimmy Butler (6-6, 215) -- Absurdly efficient with a really light workload a year ago, Butler's upped his involvement in the offense considerably this season and remains absurdly efficient.  He does the majority of his shooting inside the arc and does it well, he's an excellent offensive rebounder, and he earns frequent trips to the free throw line.

Lazar Hayward (6-6, 225) -- In addition to all that fancypants scoring, which he likes to do from all over the floor, Hayward rebounds well at both ends of the floor, never turns the ball over, and oh yeah, has doubled his assist rate in '10. 

Bench

Maurice Acker (5-8, 165), Jeronne Maymon (6-6, 250), Joseph Fulce (6-7, 205).  Acker got heavy minutes as a freshman at Ball State in 2006 but found himself buried behind McNeal and James once he got to Marquette.  Shot poorly as a freshman, well as a sophomore, poorly as a junior, and well again to this point in his senior year.  Who knows with this guy.  You're up, you're down, Maurice! Makes me want to pull my hair out, so I shaved my head.

Maymon and Fulce aren't likely to be too involved with the scoring.

Marquette Defense '08-'09

The Golden Eagles lost several tall guys after the 2008 season and did not start a player taller than 6-6 in 2009, and not surprisingly their interior D went right out the window.  Marquette opponents hit 50.3% of their twos.  The Eagles defense held it together by forcing turnovers and limiting both offensive boards and free throw attempts.