The Golden Eagles battled back from a deficit, took a lead…… and then it was over just as fast as you could blink.
Look, I wouldn’t have signed up for falling behind 16-9 in the first seven minutes, and I wouldn’t have signed up for trailing by eight late in the first half after cutting the margin down to one.
Would I have signed up for #7 seeded Marquette trailing #10 New Mexico by three at halftime? Mmmmmm, maybe, if you didn’t tell me anything else.
But ultimately, I think that’s where Marquette’s problems really started. Not the trailing by three at the break specifically, but the fact that the Golden Eagles didn’t come out of the locker room with a notable punch. In fact, head coach Shaka Smart was throwing a “hey, just chill out” at his players less than three minutes into the second half. Just a little too much trying too hard to make something happen as opposed to just playing smart solid consistent basketball.
That’s kinda why it took til a layup by Chase Ross with 13:51 to play before Marquette finally overcame that three point halftime deficit. That’s not really a problem, it’s not like New Mexico ran off and hid for a chunk of that six minutes….. it’s just that it didn’t quite seem like Marquette had a big punch to deliver on either end of the floor.
From there, things settled into “hey, this is one hell of an NCAA tournament game,” and based on the scores I saw ticking by at the top of the screen on TBS, I suspect that most of America was happy to get to watch this chunk of this one.
Right up until a three-pointer by David Joplin with 6:44 to play gave Marquette a 58-57 lead. It was one of six on the night for the Milwaukee kid, on his way to a game high 28 points in what would turn out to be his last game in a Marquette uniform. New Mexico’s answer to that? 10 straight unanswered points in nearly four minutes of basketball. Evan Miyakawa calls that kind of run a killshot. It’s the kind of run that can tip a game, and when it ends with less than three minutes left to go in the game, that’s definitely what it did here. 67-58 New Mexico, and Marquette wouldn’t get any closer the rest of the way than the six point margin created when Kam Jones broke up the run with a three.
28 points, four rebounds, an assist, and a steal for David Joplin.
15 points, five rebounds, five assists, a block, and a steal for Kam Jones.
Three points, three rebounds, two assists, and a steal for Stevie Mitchell.
That’s how they went out in their final games for Marquette….. but we also cant ignore the the fact that they combined for nine of Marquette’s 12 turnovers in the game, with four each from Joplin and Jones.
Up Next: Offseason evil. Must be destroyed.