9:58 am: Greetings and a happy 2011 to you. Live from the Bradley Center, in Milwaukee, Wisc., where I’m spitting distance from the WVU bench. I might get in today.

Marquette is pretty good — 9-4, but the losses are to Duke (82-77), Gonzaga (66-33), Wisconsin (69-64) and Vanderbilt (77-76). Not a bad loss in there, but that’s about all the close games the Golden Eagles have played. The other? Try a 75-72 win against Milwaukee on for size.

Face it, WVU is more apt to play close games, especially on the road, so there might be something there to feel good about. Nevertheless, enjoy the ride today.

10:07: Well, that was fast. It’s 9-0. First two possessions, two turnovers for Kilicli. First shot of the night gets blocked. Marquette gets a rebound, misses a shot on offense and Deniz goes over the back. He’s taken out and told to go home. Marquette scores on a third shot and then scores off a turnover. It’s 9-0 and WVU has two shots. This blog might not last long today.

10:13: WVU enters the first media timeout with a little momentum. Shall we say, extreme efforts on the bench to get the team inspired. I’m fascinated by my spot on the floor. It’s 9-5 when Kevin Jones makes a 3.

10:17: The 2-3 is giving Golden Eagles a little trouble, but they’re rebounding everything and getting good looks. Thoroughman fouls Johnson-Odom on the block and is pulled as Huggins says, “Cam … he is going. To. Pump. Fake.” And don’t look now, but Casey it starting to swagger just a litte. It’s 15-10 and he’s made two in a row.

10:22: OK, Mitchell missed, and right on cue, and then bounced a ball off his foot, but picked it up and pulled the “Eff it, I’m shooting” and made a 3. It’s 17-13 with 11:08 left in the half and Marquette is up 11-4 in rebounds, 10-2 in the paint and 6-0 on second-chance points. WVU needs something from Kilicli in this sequence.

10:24: I think I can at least get Gatorade out of this seat.

10:29: Worth noting Jimmy Butler, probably Marquette’s best player (15.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg) hasn’t scored. Hasn’t even taken a shot. It’s 27-17 and WVU just went 2-for-9 in while Marquette was 5-for-6 in its 10-4 run.

10:36: WVU spooks Marquette with a 7-0 run. Timeout Eagles and it’s 28-24. Key blocks under the basket by Dalton Pepper and Kevin Jones prevent easy scores.

10:43: The trip against Pepper? Marquette’s third foul of the half.

10:49: Feisty end of the half with the teams trading baskets and Mitchell bouncing around the floor. All in all, that’s not a terrible half for WVU. It was an awful start, but the game is on now. Question is, did the team expend too much energy getting back?

11:04 am: WVU attempted no free throws in the first half, was outrebounded 19-11 and outscored 10-5 off turnovers and 12-5 on the fastbreak. And this is a three-point game. On the road.

11:07: Marquette committed three fouls in the first half. Fifty-seven seconds into this half, John Flowers was guilty of his third. Jimmy Butler gets a free throw, his first point of the game. That possession was designed for him to do something. Watch that.

11:11: At 11:11 on 1/1/11, it’s a 45-44 game and Truck Bryant is about to shoot his team’s first free throw of the game.

11:18: Truck with a 3 for a 50-49 lead and he’s played a really good game. … As I type that, a behind-the-back pass to Mazzulla for a layup and a three-point lead.

11:28: Good action here and the crowd is frothing. Appropriate use of “Jump Around” as we enter another called WVU timeout. It’s 61-59 and Bryant, who sat out that stretch as Marquette recovered, is about to re-enter. The Eagle, by the way, are an impossible 10-for-13 in this half.

11:30: Jae Crowder’s career high was 22 points. He has 26 and no fear.

11:33: Both teams have made 12 shots this half. The difference is WVU has attempted 21 and Marquette has attempted 15 … 12-for-15!

11:34: Just noticed there’s an enormous floating Betty White head in the student section. I feel like I missed out for 34 minutes.

11:40: One of the most ridiculous shooting performances I’ve witnessed, completed now my Mr. Crowder getting fouled on a put-back and spinning the ball high off the glass for the score. There’s no coming back from that. It’s 73-68 with 3:32 to go. The Eagles are 15 for 20, but have rebounded their past two misses and made a 3 and are heading to the line for a three-point play.

11:45: WVU was dying to get a stop and got it. It’s 73-70 and Huggins wisely takes a TO. They need point on this possession. I’d say you could test the “They have to miss” theory, but given this half, and given that Marquette just missed, and isn’t necessarily “due,” that might not be the case.

11:47: Staggering rally. Best I’ve seen Truck play. They’re running the game through him and he’s handling it.

11:48: Breakdown there. I don’t think anyone, on either side, was ready for that early of a shot and Chris Otule had an unimpeded path for a tip-dunk.

11:52: Flowers fouled out and was never in the game. He enjoyed the trip to the bench, though. Student section does the “left, right” and Flowers decided to dance to make it difficult.

11:53: Bad decision by Truck on the turnover. Crowder read the pass. I understand Mitchell’s foul, and the call, but he didn’t have to foul. If Crowder makes the layup, it’s a three-point game with 30 seconds left.

11:55: I don’t understand that, either. No one seemed to have an idea what to do and Truck finally put his head down and went at the basket. Tough loss and, even bigger, 0-2 in the conference.