The Golden Eagles stumble in Omaha to extend their season long losing stretch to three straight.
I had a disjointed start to experiencing Marquette’s visit to Omaha on Saturday, as going into it, I knew I wouldn’t get to a television until 2:30ish. Luckily for me, start time got pushed back by Fox Sports by 15 minutes, so I arrived home just a shade after halftime ended. I only got to listen to bits and pieces of the game on the radio, but I thought it sounded like it was a nice competitive game between two teams getting votes in the AP top 25 and on track for the NCAA tournament.
I had that thought about when David Joplin hit a three with 2:42 left in the first half to slash the margin down to just four points….. and then I picked up the radio broadcast again right before Kam Jones cashed in a second chance look at the halftime horn to cut the margin down from 10 to seven at the break.
Guys, I don’t know how to tell you, but it’s probably a bad sign that MU gave up a 10-4 run in two minutes and 18 seconds.
Letting the Jays boost the lead to 11 points on a Jackson McAndrew three-pointer less than 70 seconds into the second half was probably also not advisable. But Kam Jones started lighting the Bluejays on fire, scoring 11 points in a 16-4 Marquette run to put the #11 ranked Golden Eagles out in front for a moment at the midway point of the half. As much as a problem the end of the first and start of the second were for Marquette, we can’t say that they truly mattered for the Golden Eagles.
But they couldn’t get the lead past one point, the literal definition of a lead. David Joplin scored in the paint to get MU back out in front with 6:34 to go, and the two teams locked into a duel. A layup from Fedor Zugic on the ensuing possession pushed the advantage to the home team, and in retrospect, it’s a lead that they would not give up again.
I said it was a duel, and it was. Marquette was right there with chances to win this game. Kam Jones scored with 3:14 and 1:52 to go to have MU within a possession. All they had to do was get a a pair of stop/score sets, and they didn’t do that. Jamiya Neal scored in the paint, Stevie Mitchell missed his eighth three-point attempt of the game, Steven Ashworth ballfaked himself open for his sixth made triple of the game, and Jones missed on the other end. 35 seconds left, and that was that.
Losing is never fun, but it’s also the first time that we’ve seen a Shaka Smart lose three straight games at all since the first three games of his first Big East schedule landed MU with four straight losses. None of the losses are bad losses, just losses that have sent Marquette from 9-1 and obviously in contention for a Big East title at the midway point of the schedule to 9-4 and three full games behind first place St. John’s. Still a lot of hoops left to go this season, but it does feel like MU’s door to a title has closed.
If that’s the worst thing that happens this season, oh well, I guess.
How about some highlights, such as they are, courtesy of GoMarquette.com and Fox Sports?
Up Next: Can I interest you in a home game against DePaul and a week off for the Golden Eagles? They’ll host the Blue Demons on Tuesday night for a 7:30pm Central time start on Peacock, and then they won’t play again until hosting Seton Hall precisely one week and 30 minutes later. DePaul hasn’t been in action since they took a 59-49 loss at home to Villanova back on Wednesday for their fourth loss in their last five games, and they’ll be off until they get to Milwaukee.