James had the hot hand to begin the game, scoring 11 of the team's first 21 points (16 at the half). McNeal, though, has been the spark that Marquette has grown its lead on. He has 10 points, has done a good job of keeping ground when forced to defend in the paint, and his five assists are a game high so far.

A McNeal steal midway through the half helped to break the game open. With the score 21-17, he intercepted a pass to the top of the key and drew an intentional foul on his breakaway run. Later, James delived a baseline bounce pass to David Cubillan, who kicked it up to the top of the key to McNeal for a three-pointer to make it 32-20. From there, Marquette continued to chip away.

Milwaukee's Deion James deserves credit for not throwing in the towel. As Marquette was building momentum James hit three-pointers on consecutive possessions to try to slow down the Golden Eagles (no such luck). Panther big-body Tim Flowers has seven points but should have more. When presented with favorable matchups on the block, Milwaukee has failed to get it to him enough. When Flowers reached his second foul with under 11 minutes on the clock, it affected Milwaukee.

For Milwaukee to have a chance in the second half, they'll need to slow things down and take advantage of matchups in the post.