Matt Velazquez

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

For a period of about five minutes on Monday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center, the action on the court between Marquette and Howard didn't matter. The two teams kept playing, but Golden Eagles senior center Luke Fischer, the team's most valuable and most irreplaceable player, spent that time in the locker room.

With 17 minutes, 23 seconds on the clock in the second half, Fischer absorbed contact while defending along the perimeter and fell to the ground, landing on his surgically repaired left shoulder. After writhing in pain on the ground, he got up and proceeded to the sideline and into the locker room.

BOX SCORE: Marquette 81, Howard 49

Marquette was up by double digits at the time and well on the way to an 81-49 victory, but every minute Fischer remained in the locker room translated to anxiety from those inside the arena and watching on television about what the future might hold for the Golden Eagles.

"I was scared, I didn't know how bad it was," senior Katin Reinhardt said. "When he was holding his shoulder, I was just praying nothing bad would come of it."

In the short term, it meant going small. Sam Hauser, a 6-foot-7 forward, replaced Fischer as Marquette's de facto center. Hauser at center is a lineup Marquette had used earlier in the game, as well as in its exhibition game and the season opener against Vanderbilt. The Golden Eagles may sacrifice size with that unit, but they add speed, shooting and spacing on the offensive end.

After a long five minutes, Fischer emerged from the locker room in time to see a tip-in by Jajuan Johnson, giving Marquette a 7-1 run in his absence. That run included a three-pointer by Hauser, one of three on the night by the freshman from Stevens Point, who finished with 10 points.

"Obviously if Luke gets hurt or foul trouble or whatever it may be we're going to have to play the small lineup," Reinhardt said. "Since we got here in the summer we've been practicing if we have that lineup in the game, which is going to happen at some times.

"We just have to play hard — rebound, we have to make sure we rebound with that lineup. Offensively we'll be fine — we can space the floor, we have a lot of shooters on the floor when Sam is at the five."

Fischer returned to the game with 15 minutes, 10 seconds left on the clock with his injury diagnosed as merely a contusion. His stay wasn't long, though, as he picked up his fourth foul a short time after and ultimately played 10 minutes in the second half and 19 on the night, scoring six points and grabbing four rebounds.

“I can’t say what I was thinking, but certainly good to see him come back out," head coach Steve Wojciechowski said. "He took a hard (hit) — it was like he was on the line and the running back just ran right over him. But he’s doing fine, he’ll be fine. He might be a little sore from the tackle, but he’ll be fine.”

Notes: Marquette breaks down unique zone

The absence of Fischer, who scored 18 points and had seven rebounds and three blocks over 32 minutes in Marquette's season-opening victory over Vanderbilt, provided a live look at what Wojciechowski would do in instances when his top big man wasn't available.

More often than not, the option was Hauser. Sophomore center Matt Heldt played just two minutes in the first half while Fischer was in foul trouble and added eight minutes in the second half, most of which coming when Marquette was mopping up the victory.

“I think with their zone what Sam does is bring a shooting dimension," Wojciechowski said. "We’ll take a look at Sam at the five, too. Obviously, I thought Matt gave us good minutes there at the end. Sam’s a very unique player and he gives us a different look when he’s in at the five.”

Outside of its big men, Marquette followed the script from Friday's opener. The Golden Eagles improved throughout the game, this time playing sloppily in the first half against Howard's unique matchup zone look on the way to a 34-23 halftime lead.

Johnson and Reinhardt led the way with 14 points each while sophomore Haanif Cheatham contributed 12 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Freshman guard Markus Howard, who shifted to coming off the bench after starting the opener, went 4 of 5 from the field, including 3 of 4 from long range, on the way to 12 points.

As a team, Marquette shot 50.9% overall and 42.9% from beyond the arc, while forcing Howard into 18 turnovers and holding the Bison to 30.4% shooting.