No contest
MILWAUKEE -- Marquette's strikingly easy victory over Notre Dame on Saturday was one for the 88-year-old rivalry's history books -- and one the Fighting Irish would just as soon forget.
Jerel McNeal had 18 points to lead five Marquette players in double figures, and the 15th-ranked Golden Eagles handed Notre Dame its worst loss in the teams' 109-game series, 92-66.
The Marquette-Notre Dame rivalry dates to 1920, and the Irish have played the Golden Eagles more than any other opponent in their 103-year history. Notre Dame leads the all-time series 76-33, but you wouldn't have guessed it Saturday.
"It was a statement win, not so much on the outside -- for us," Marquette coach Tom Crean said. "It was a statement that we could play this way, follow a game plan, eliminate mental errors, play with adversity."
The defeat was the first for the Fighting Irish (12-3, 2-1 Big East) since Nov. 19 and snapped their 10-game winning streak.
The Irish had a season-high 24 turnovers.
"I did a double take to make sure that counted for 1 loss," said Notre Dame coach Mike Brey. "They were fabulous. The last eight, nine minutes, man, I am saying, 'I want to get guys out and get them ready for Tuesday because we're not closing the gap today.' Everybody in the building knew that.
"They were putting their Brett Favre jerseys on with 10 minutes to play."
The Green Bay Packers-Seattle Seahawks NFL playoff game began shortly after the final horn.
The Golden Eagles dominated from the start, with Wesley Matthews (15 points) taking the opening tip and racing down court for a layup five seconds into the game. Matthews followed with a steal and a dunk a minute later to make it 5-0.
Marquette led 44-36 at halftime -- Notre Dame's first halftime deficit this season -- and quickly took charge in the second half, outscoring Notre Dame 20-5 after the Irish had gotten within 5.
"Nothing went really well for us," Brey said. "But it was a lot of Marquette playing very, very well. A lot of guys for them made big shots and big plays. It just wasn't one or two guys. Seven, eight, nine guys made plays."
Marquette had 20 fastbreak points to Notre Dame's 2, and the Golden Eagles made a season-high 12 of 24 of 3-pointers. Marquette also tied a season high with 17 steals.
"We really have the same plan going into each game, and it always starts with ball pressure," Lazar Hayward said. "We were getting stops, and whenever we get stops we're off and running. That's when we're at our best."
Luke Harangody noticed.
"It's hard to play against that," said the Irish center, who tied a career high with 29 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. "They were doing extremely well, hitting open shots and moving the ball around and finding the open man. You have to give it to them on that, they played great."
Hayward scored 17 points and added 4 steals for Marquette (13-2, 3-1) and tied a career high with 11 rebounds. Dominic James added 16 points, 7 assists and 4 steals.
Irish sharpshooter Kyle McAlarney, coming off a career-high 32 points in a victory over Connecticut, finished with 8 points. Point guard Tory Jackson had 6 points and fouled out with 7:15 remaining.