Box Score | St. John's Quotes | Marquette Quotes | Postgame Notes
By SEAN BRENNAN
BIGEAST.com
The last time Marquette was at Madison Square Garden it wasn’t for a game at all. It was for BIG EAST Media Day back in October. It was a day when four new coaches were introduced to the league, where the preseason Player of the Year and All-League teams were announced and the coaches poll was released.
It was not a good day for Marquette.
The Golden Eagles failed to check a box on either the Player of the Year or any of the All-League teams. Not a single name made any list. But perhaps the deepest cut of all for Marquette was its placement in the poll. Ninth place, ahead of only DePaul and Georgetown. Ouch.
Fast forward five months and there was Marquette back in the Garden for its quarterfinal round tournament game against No. 8 St. John’s. But this time the Golden Eagles arrived as the tournament’s top seed after winning their first ever outright BIG EAST regular-season title. They also brought along with them an All-BIG EAST First Team selection in Tyler Kolek, a pair of Second Teamers in Oso Ighodaro and Kam Jones, the Sixth Man Award winner in David Joplin, the Coach of the Year in Shaka Smart and the Player of the Year, the aforementioned Kolek. Hopefully they brought along an empty suitcase or two to tote home all that hardware.
So when they took the court for their noon opener against the Red Storm there was nothing that was going to derail that feel-good vibe surrounding the Golden Eagles program. Really, what could go wrong?
Well, there was the issue of facing a St. John’s team that was looking to make a miracle run through the tournament and land an improbable NCAA Tournament invite. A team that took the Golden Eagles to the wire in the regular-season finale last Saturday before Marquette escaped with a two-point win. A team that was looking to advance to the BIG EAST Tournament semifinals for the first time in 23 years.
In short, Marquette would be facing a very hungry bunch of Johnnies in their home away from home.
Marquette is enjoying this trip to the Garden far better than the first, at least so far. But did the Golden Eagles sure had to work, and then work some overtime, before they could exhale Thursday afternoon. Actually it wasn’t until Posh Alexander’s potential game-winning, three-pointer missed the mark as the buzzer sounded in overtime before Marquette could celebrate a hard-fought 72-70 victory over St. John’s.
The win moves the Golden Eagles into the semifinals where they will face the winner of the Providence-UConn game Friday night at 6:30 p.m.
“St. John’s deserves a lot of credit for the way they attacked and played,” Smart said. “They wouldn’t go away and they kept responding.”
St. John’s actually had the Golden Eagles (26-6) down by 14 in the first half and Marquette still trailed by 10 at halftime. But the Golden Eagles began the second half looking every bit the top-seeded team as they scored the first nine points to pull within 36-35 and from there on it was a war. St. John’s answered with a mini-run of its own to build a 47-40 lead with 12:02 to play after a three-pointer by Alexander and for the rest of regulation Marquette’s largest lead was just four points, the last time coming when it held a 60-54 lead with 24.1 seconds to play.
But St. John’s answered with three free throws from A.J. Storr to pull within a point at 60-59 with 19.6 to play in regulation. A free throw by Marquette’s Olivier-Maxence Prosper with 12.9 gave the Golden Eagles a slim 61-59 advantage but when St. John’s Dylan Addae-Wusu converted a layup with 4.5 seconds to play, it was off to overtime.
“I thought Tyler, at the beginning of the second half, had a much better clarity for attacking and being the most aggressive guy on the floor,” Smart said. “He made a lot of plays, not just the ones where he scored but he created plays for other guys. Tyler’s the guy down the stretch. If we have the ball in his hands we know he can create a good shot for us.
Kolek then took over for Marquette in the extra session as he scored the Golden Eagles final seven points, including what turned out to be the victory-clinching two free throws with 15.8 seconds to play. It’s what a Player of the Year does in big moments. And when Alexander’s last-gasp three came up empty for the Johnnies, Marquette was finally able to celebrate.
“To be able to find a way to win that type of game was huge,” Smart said.
St. John’s will now wait to see if the phone rings with an NIT invitation, one St. John’s head coach Mike Anderson said he would gladly accept. But the sting of almost taking down No. 1 and coming up short was still evident.
“I thought our guys came with everything,” Anderson said. “They were playing like it was an NCAA game. They got a lot of heart, a lot of toughness and I got a locker room in there, the guys are hurting in there right now. (But) we had our chances and that’s the beauty of March and March Madness.”
Prosper finished with 16 points and Jones added 11 for Marquette while David Jones and Addae-Wusu paced St. John’s (18-15) with 16 points apiece.
Marquette now stands two wins away from securing their first-ever BIG EAST Tournament championship as a magical season continues for the league’s youngest team. Young, but not inexperienced.
“I wouldn’t say we’re inexperienced anymore just because of everything we’ve gone through this year, all the experiences we’ve had,” said Kolek, who finished with 19 points, nine rebounds and six assists. “And that’s just made us better. I think coming into the postseason we’re as prepared as we can be. Doesn't matter if we’re the youngest team on paper. I think we’re one of the most prepared teams in the country.”