Boys basketball: Marquette’s inside muscle too much for DePue in opener

OTTAWA – Looking at the Marquette boys basketball roster and the size of the players it lists, one might think the Crusaders would be content to walk it up and play a half-court game.

Although they did excel at that more and more as their season- and home-opening contest against DePue wore on, they also demonstrated a little speed, a little quickness and a little more prowess in the transition game as well.

After starting a chilly 0 for 10 from the field in the first quarter, the Cru heated up in the middle two quarters and connected on 18 of 32 attempts from the field, building a 23-point lead on the Little Giants heading into the fourth quarter on their way to a 62-34 victory Tuesday night in Bader Gymnasium.

Logan Nelson popped in seven of his 12 points from the perimeter in a 19-10 second quarter, then Beau Ewers sank 5 of 5 shots for 10 of his team-best 14 points in a 23-15 third period that gave MA that large cushion.

Those showings allowed them to overcome the game-high 16 points and eight rebounds posted by DePue’s Andres Moreno, who was playing only his second game in two seasons and his first after being seriously injured in a car accident last winter.

MA, which finished shooting 48.2% (27 of 56), was able to negate him by outrebounding the Giants 38-27 behind Beau Ewers’ nine caroms.

“The one thing I told the kids before the game is that I didn’t care if we win or lose, as long as we played hard, and they did that tonight,” Marquette coach Todd Hopkins said. “I thought we’d rebound pretty well, and we did, didn’t give them too many second shots, and we played a little better defense than I thought we might.

“And, coming in, I didn’t think we were that quick, but we showed we’re a little quicker than I expected we’d be. … We probably took a few too many quick shots instead of working the ball inside more, but we did that better as the game went on, too.

“But I didn’t have to get on them once about getting after a loose ball or about playing hard. You should never have to get on them for that, and they took care of that themselves.”

Both teams went scoreless in the first four minutes, going a combined 0 for 18 before Nelson converted the first bucket. After a Moreno basket broke DePue’s dry spell, the Crusaders scored the next 12 points and 22 of the next 26 to grab a 24-6 advantage, the capper a Nelson conversion of a Beau Ewers steal.

In his big third period, Ewers got four of his five buckets off offensive rebounds as the hosts scored 10 of the first 12 points after the break. After that, the Cru’s ability to slow it down and work inside to Beau Ewers, 6-foot-2 twin brother Brady Ewers (10 points, seven rebounds) and 6-3 Aiden Thompson (eight points, five rebounds) was simply too much.

Also for Marquette, Alex Graham had seven points and five assists.

Moreno got six of his points in the third period for the Giants, who had just 12 turnovers and shot 33% from the field in the loss.

“We are really happy to have Andres back, and I think he’ll just build on this game,” DePue coach Charlie Klinefelter said. “He was off on a couple shots he usually makes, but hopefully he’ll find that shooting stroke soon. We just have to get some of the other guys going, too.

“This was the kids’ first game, and they have to be reminded of the fundamental stuff like boxing out, not letting bigger guys manhandle you inside, but I loved the energy we had. They’re learning, and in the second half it showed. We scored a lot more in the latter half, but we have to get away from just exchanging baskets with the other team.”