10. Wojo’s first win
Steve Wojciechowski’s first season as a head coach had some deep valleys, but the emotional response to his first victory from Juan Anderson and the rest of the squad highlight what kind of connection he was able to forge with players he did not recruit.
9. Creighton buzzer-beater
Marquette choked up a huge lead in the first half, but was able to come away with the W on the back of Matt Carlino. It was early enough in the season where it felt this would be a learning experience that would help later in close games. It wasn’t, hence the low placement in this top-10.
8. This picture
Click on it to make it bigger. You won’t regret it.
Photo by Ryan Messier/Paint Touches
7. Matt Velazquez tabbed as JS beat writer
Informative articles, timely blog posts, interactive Twitter feed. What the heck, this guy basically put Paint Touches out of business. Really. We initially started this site for fun but kept it going because we didn’t think the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel cared about the Marquette beat, using it as a retirement home for older reporters after Todd Rosiak got the bump up to the Brewers. But Matt was so good, so often, there was no need for PT anymore. Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere yet, but Matt’s coverage has been tremendous. The only worry is that it’s been too good and he’ll promoted somewhere else.
6. King Henry commits
Presumptuous nickname. Si. Unfair expectations. You know it. But Marquette hasn’t had a player of Henry Ellenson’s caliber on campus in over 25 years. It’s a big freaking deal. It was a watershed moment at the time and formed a foundation Wojo has built greatly on.
5. #Car3no
For as many times as Carlino made fans pull their hair out with questionable shot selection, he made up for with ridiculous makes. His coming out party against Georgia Tech lit the scoreboard with 38 points on 8 made 3-pointers. He was definitely a streaky shooter, but his 89 makes were the most by any Golden Eagle since Steve Novak, and done on 41.9% shooting. Enjoy this shot chart, it won’t be seen for a while.
4. Derrick puts Hoya dude on a poster
Watch. Your. Head.
3. #DuanesWorld
Duane Wilson was a historically good freshman this season, as this Anonymous Eagle post clearly highlights. He had some big shots in clutch situations, and generally was the most trusted underclassmen. If I had to pick one particular moment, it has to be his coming out party against Tennessee in Orlando, where he scored 30 points and led Marquette down the stretch. He showed the world what he was capable of here, and though he did hit a freshman wall at times, proved that he will be electric the next three years.
Here’s the meme that will make waves next year, courtesy of @Rubie_Q at Anonymous Eagle. Keep it in a safe place.
2. Fischer debuts against Arizona State
Luke Fischer’s debut was historic. Literally, one of the best in Marquette history. He torched Arizona State on both ends of the floor and raised expectations to unreasonable levels for both him and the team. Yes, once teams began game-planning for him his effectiveness and efficiency dropped. Yes, he still takes a tad too long to gather and go up under the basket. Yes,he gets in foul trouble much too often. But Luke has cemented his spot in the rotation for the next two years. For a program that hasn’t had a bedrock in the post with his abilities on both ends of the floor in over a decade, that’s a big deal. His performance against the Sun Devils was just a taste of what might come.
1. Deck the Hall
Maybe Seton Hall quit. Maybe Marquette was ridiculously lucky with a few shots. Maybe I don’t care. There was no one performance as deeply satisfying as the beatdown of Seton Hall in the opening round of the Big East Tournament. Carlino tied the record for most 3s in a Big East Tourney game while Derrick Wilson tied the record for most assists with 14. We’ll just pretend the Villanova game didn’t take place and call this the most fitting of endings.
Paint Touches 
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