NEW YORK — Xavier and Marquette engaged in an instant classic of a Big East tournament game last season, with Ryan Conwell and Kam Jones trading shots down the stretch in a quarterfinal battle from which the Golden Eagles were fortunate to emerge victorious.
The personnel has changed for both sides since then, but the intensity was duplicated. And one year later, Xavier was able to avenge its early exit.
The Musketeers saw two double-digit leads evaporate over the course of the evening Wednesday, but Jovan Milicevic’s layup in transition with 1:14 remaining in regulation broke an 80-all deadlock and put Xavier in front to stay, holding off the Golden Eagles by the final of 89-87.
“It was a great game,” head coach Richard Pitino said as the Musketeers saw four players post double-figure point totals, led by Milicevic’s 21. “We did our very best to kind of throw the kitchen sink at them, especially to Nigel James. We mixed up a 2-3 zone, a 3-2, a couple different zone presses. I thought it was somewhat effective, then (Marquette) settled in, and then offensively, we were terrific in the second half.”
Xavier shot 63 percent (19-for-30) from the floor after a first half that saw both teams tied at 38 upon its conclusion. After both sides traded baskets for the first few minutes out of the locker room, the Musketeers created separation in the form of a 15-2 run punctuated by Tre Carroll, who put the finishing touches on the spurt with 11:39 remaining in regulation to put Xavier ahead, 60-50, as Shaka Smart called a timeout on the Marquette bench.
“It was certainly great to have him back,” Pitino said of Carroll, who was injured in the second half of Xavier’s loss to Seton Hall on March 3. “I figured he would be a little bit rusty, but I thought he really battled, showed a lot of great heart (and) rebounded the basketball very well.”
Marquette would not go quietly into the New York night, however, scoring the next seven points and then using timely shot making from Chase Ross and Big East Freshman of the Year Nigel James, Jr. to pull even with Xavier down the stretch before Milicevic’s heroics.
“I’m really proud of how our guys fought,” Smart said in defeat. “I told the guys in the locker room, when we had a defensive identity, I think we were really tough to beat. It just wasn’t consistent enough, including today. Congrats to Xavier. They made one more play than us.”
Xavier advances to the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament, where it will face UConn Thursday night. The Huskies swept the Musketeers in both regular season matchups, taking victories of 27 and 32 points, respectively, something that prompted Pitino to reconsider his tactical strategy.
“We’re going to do the total opposite of what we did the first two times we played them,” he quipped. “In everything we do. We’re not going to do anything the same.”
The Musketeers’ hero was all business after the win.
“We’ve got three more to go,” Milicevic said. “Hopefully we can go make something happen these next couple days.”