Marquette routs No. 21 WVU, evens Big East record

MILWAUKEE (AP) -- In preparation for his team's game against West

Virginia, Marquette coach Tom Crean spliced together footage of all

20 of the 3-point shots the Mountaineers made in a blowout victory

over the Golden Eagles last season.

Marquette responded by holding No. 21 West Virginia to 5-for-22

shooting from 3-point range on Saturday, then turned the resulting

long rebounds into transition baskets in an 81-63 victory.

"We never wanted to stop running," Crean said.

Dominic James snapped out of his shooting slump to score 21

points for Marquette (15-4, 2-2), which dropped out of the national

rankings last week after losing its first two Big East conference

games to unranked opponents.

The Golden Eagles rebounded with a victory at No. 24 Connecticut

on Wednesday night, and now have won two straight against ranked

teams.

The Mountaineers (13-3, 3-2) had their first conference loss at

Notre Dame on Tuesday night to snap an eight-game winning streak

and now have lost two straight on the road. West Virginia coach

John Beilein said it's only natural that his young team will

struggle at times.

"We're going to have some games like this, and we're going to

have to suck it up and try to play better," Beilein said.

Frank Young scored 11 to lead West Virginia.

"We haven't played with poise," Young said. "We're not

playing well under pressure. We let the crowd get into it."

The Golden Eagles' 81-point performance was the most points the

Mountaineers have given up all season

West Virginia was the Big East's best defensive team coming into

Saturday's game, giving up an average of only 51.8 points.

Saturday's game was only the third time this season the

Mountaineers had given up more than 61 points.

The scoring eruption meant that Marquette finally solved a zone

defense -- a major problem in the Golden Eagles' 0-2 start in

conference play. After struggling against 2-3 zone defenses in

losses at Providence and to Syracuse at home, the Golden Eagles

moved the ball more and took better shots against West Virginia's

1-3-1 zone.

Crean said his young players have had a hard time trying to find

good shots against zones.

"It's hard," Crean said. "We're living proof of that the last

two weeks."

Outscoring West Virginia 24-10 on fast break points didn't hurt,

either.

"Every opportunity we got, we tried to push it and not let them

set up their (zone)," James said.

James was 8-for-17 from the field after going 11-for-41 in

Marquette's previous three games -- including 2-for-20 from 3-point

range. James was 2-for-4 from 3-point range on Saturday.

Freshman David Cubillan added 14 and was 4-for-4 from 3-point

range. Beilein acknowledged James' improved shooting, but said

Cubillan really disrupted his team's defense.

"Cubillan's 4-for-4 is like having Novak out there," Beilein

said, referring to sweet-shooting former Marquette star Steve

Novak.

West Virginia's 5-for-22 performance from 3-point range was a

stunning change from last season's 104-85 victory over Marquette.

It's still the only time West Virginia has passed the 100-point

mark in regulation in four-plus seasons under Beilein.

West Virginia closed within nine on a 3-pointer by De'Sean

Butler with 12:15 remaining Saturday, but Marquette used a 10-0 run

to pull away from the Mountaineers.