Tickets sold. Definitely tickets sold.

Fiserv is maybe 60% full. Marginal resume value if you win (and bad loss last year). Games like this actively harm attendance & the resume. Hard pass.

Best case was a mediocre resume win & slightly better than buy game win. Instead it was bad loss & potentially bad loss. The stadium is maybe 60% full, so poor business decision.

The #mubb AD told me we should never play a road game without getting a high major home game in return. This isn't that.

The Big East is trending toward being a 3 bid league. 2 isn't unfathomable, but 4 is still possible. But that push starts on Wednesday, if #mubb is one of those teams. It's only 5 games in, but given these losses, this non-con, and this Big East, the margin for error is gone.

Some will argue that could impede development for Owens/Phillips/etc but it doesn't matter. If it all comes apart, give them run in February when the at-large dream is over. For now, Shaka has to play his best players, period.

How does #mubb get there? First, shorten the rotation. Starters should be NJ, Chase, Zaide, Royce, & Ben.

Bench should be Stevens, SJ, & a combination of Caedin/Clark that play 15-20 mpg. No one else unless the result is not in question.

This isn't the time to experiment.

Last year, Xavier was 21-10 (13-7) going into the Big East Tourney. This Big East looks worse, so #mubb matching those numbers is an absolute minimum for at-large consideration. There is no margin for error in non-con & we probably need 14 Big East wins (unless we get one of Purdue/Bucky).

The only good non-con wins are Purdue & Wisconsin. Those feel unlikely, & both Dayton & Oklahoma are must win.

The other problem is the Big East is 3-11 vs top-100 opponents. Those wins are all from UConn & Georgetown. If #mubb doesn't build the resume now, they won't have many opportunities later.

This might be Blue & Gold glasses, but I think this is a great matchup. Georgetown led by as much as 20 in College Park before a 10-point win. Unless Rice & Washington are both back, #mubb should exceed that. I'm going with an 82-64 Marquette win.

#mubb also needs to hit the offensive glass themselves. The Terps are average in transition use & efficiency, so don't be afraid to hit the glass where the Terps are okay but not great. This is a place where Marquette can beat them at their own game, especially with Parham, Clark, Hamilton, & Gold.

While #mubb ball-handling hasn't been as elite as last year, it isn't the thing that's going to beat us. Marquette needs to get inside, where Maryland hasn't defended well. Payne is one guy and Buzz's rim protection works better with a help-side shot-blocker like Washington. They don't have that.

Speaking of turnovers, Maryland's greatest defensive strength is turnover rate (24.8%, #18 nationally), but I think that's a paper tiger number. They rank #197 in steal percentage but #3 in non-steal turnovers. So far, 32 of the 52 turnovers they've "forced" were the other team throwing it away.

As a team, Maryland's weakness so far is turnovers. They turn it over 20.1% of the time. Marquette should be able to exploit that, especially if Rice is out because they don't have many natural ball-handlers. So defensively, limit Payne with doubles, be cognizant of 3P shooters, & pressure the ball.

The other issue for the Terps is Myles Rice may still be out. He only played the Georgetown game so far. He has the potential to be Buzz's Wade Taylor V, as he's a gutsy shooter who plays with a touch of reckless abandon. If he plays, Marquette needs to stick to him and bring pressure (4 TOs vs GT).

The next thing is three-point shooting. As a team, Maryland is below average, but Coit & Mills have been solid. It's worth noting they are 11/23 (47.8%) in buy games but were just 3/12 (25.0%) vs Georgetown. This is small sample size, but when #mubb doubles Payne, don't double off those two.

Payne is the type of big that gives #mubb & Ben Gold trouble, so they need to throw double teams at him and try to force turnovers when he gets it. Payne will get his, but if you limit him that limits much of Maryland's offense.

When they do get on the O glass, they are good, but rank only #101 on OR%, poor for a Buzz team. They need Solomon Washington back, but he's still injured. Down low, it's Payne rebounds & drawing fouls driving the offense. He's 87.5% from the FT line, but his 32 FTA are 36% of the Terps total.

First off, Maryland's offense has been putrid. Their only reliable sources of offense have been Pharrel Payne on putbacks and free throws and the Andre Mills/David Coit combination from three. However, Payne isn't getting much support, accounting for 37.9% of the Terps offensive boards.