I’m probably hoping against hope that the Orange-Hoya tilt ends early. I expect that the first few minutes will be unseen.

9 PM ESPN2. We’ll get the liveblog going around then, unless there is severe absurdity ahead of it.

As usual, if you need to break out the chat from the site, Click Here.

Otherwise, you will find it below.

Marquette’s “gold out” versus the blue and gold. LiveBlog tonight because truly live games always trumps NBC’s version of “live” in the Olympics. Let’s hope that the Syracuse-Georgetown game on ESPN2 doesn’t end up in double-OT like last night’s ND-‘Ville game. The Texas-Mizzou game lost nearly the entire first half of coverage.

At this point, the Golden Eagles are probably in the NCAA Tournament. Their RPI is not particularly pretty (57), but their Pomeroy is outstanding (20). Still they are looking at finishing above .500 in the Big East and while they do have that loss at DePaul and to NC State, they have wins over Xavier (neutral court) and Georgetown to counterbalance. No other bad losses. No other great wins. A good team that is running hot right now.

This is not just a nationally televised home game for Marquette, it is their last big resume building game on their schedule. After this it is lower-bubble team Cinci, Three more teams just trying to keep from finishing in the lower-8 of the Big East in St. John’s, Seton Hall and Notre Dame. The closest thing after Pitt to a game that can help them is Louisville. All of which contributes to the importance of this game for Marquette.

Pitt is going to face a very excited and fired-up crowd. They know the importance, and you can bet the players for Marquette is well aware of the importance. Even if they go to the “one game at a time, we don’t pay attention to that stuff” cliches.

“We don’t really know anything about the tournament,” said sophomore guard Darius Johnson-Odom. “I don’t know what our record is right now, to be honest with you. We just take it one game at a time.”

Their game plan sounds vaguely familiar.

MU, meanwhile, will continue to stick to the formula that’s gotten it back above .500 in the Big East: Take care of the basketball, make the extra pass, knock down the open shot and play as hard and as efficiently as possible on the defensive end while also giving great effort on the glass.

“It’s such a specific recipe that if you miss a little pinch of something, we’re going to lose. Not a tablespoon, not a cup – if we miss a pinch, we’ll get blown out,” MU coach Buzz Williams said. “To be able to follow that same recipe every single game, every single practice, it’s a testament (to) who our guys are mentally and emotionally as much as it is physically.

“When you have no margin for error, and you can only subscribe the same recipe — no changes, no additions, no deletions — that’ll grind you up. To be able to do that speaks to their will.”

Yes, it is familiar. They do play a very efficient offense. It’s a solid defense that still likes to go for turnovers when given an opportunity. And yes, Pitt is 0-3 at the Bradley Center.

And with junior forward Jimmy Butler and junior-college transfers Dwight Buycks and Darius Johnson-Odom developing into immediate contributors, Williams has patched together a team that is fighting for a berth in the NCAA tournament.

Johnson-Odom, Cubillan and Acker have filled in admirably for James, McNeal and Matthews.

“They’re still getting a lot of production,” Dixon said. “They don’t have the physicality of [James, McNeal and Matthews], but they shoot it better. It’s different, but they’re getting production out of those guys.”

Acker is shooting 50 percent (35 for 70) from 3-point range and Johnson-Odom is shooting 49.5 percent (54 for 109).

They have helped Marquette become the top 3-point shooting team in the Big East and among the best in the country. The Golden Eagles shoot 42.4 percent from 3-point range as a team. That ranks second in NCAA Division I behind Utah State, which shoots 42.6 percent.

The Golden Eagles, though, do not have the size of some of the recent opponents, so Pitt should have an opportunity to get on the boards.

“We need to hurt them in other areas,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “Hurt their size, hurt them on the glass and get some scoring around the basket.”

While I think Dixon overstates the issue of rebounding, he is not wrong in this case. The reason why Marquette has to be one of the most efficient offensive team is that they are not a good rebounding team. You can bet they will be active and will crash to get boards, but their size is not helpful. Of course, if you keep scoring on most of your opportunities, rebounding is not as vital.