Exactly two weeks in the past, Marquette males’s basketball fell behind Xavier by 19 factors within the second half and ended up with a two level loss on the ultimate horn. On the time, I identified that Marquette’s downside was that they needed to be taught the oldest lesson within the e book: Don’t fall behind by that many factors and simply anticipate to win a basketball recreation regardless of how exhausting you strive after the actual fact.
Right here’s the issue: They didn’t really be taught that lesson then.
That was evident on Nationwide Marquette Day on Saturday night time at Fiserv, as #25 UConn took a 22 level lead late within the first half and by no means let the Golden Eagles get nearer than six factors for the complete second half on their option to a 77-69 victory over MU.
Was quite a lot of the second half performed with a single digit margin? Certain. Did that matter within the slightest? No, by no means. Marquette trailed by 22 late within the first half as a result of the Huskies shot 50% on three-pointers within the first 20 minutes. They held Marquette at bay with out ever letting the sport get nearer than two possessions by capturing — and this isn’t a joke, I’m studying instantly off the field rating — 85.7% on threes within the second half.
You possibly can’t path by 22 factors AND let that type of capturing go on. UConn shot 13-for-23 on twos for the sport, which can also be not excellent however not the actual downside right here. UConn was so white scorching that it finally didn’t matter than the Huskies turned the ball over TWENTY-FIVE TIMES on this recreation. 29 of Marquette’s 69 factors got here off of UConn turnovers, a mark of 1.16 factors per turnover generated possession. That’s not too shabby, particularly when you think about that the worth of scoring like that’s greater than simply the factors themselves since you simply shut your opponent out.
And never a single little bit of that turnover manufacturing mattered a dang bit. One of many 10 finest turnover charge nights within the KenPom.com period paired with the fourth worst efficient discipline objective share within the KenPom.com period. It’s the one time in KP historical past the place Marquette has compelled a turnover on 35.6% of possessions or higher and misplaced.
The true bummer of all of it? I assumed Marquette was going to be wonderful within the early going. UConn jumped out to a 14-4 lead in lower than 4 minutes, however I mentioned “hey, look, yeah, the Huskies haven’t missed a shot but, however it’s Hassan Diarra and Jaylin Stewart hitting these threes. These guys are capturing 27% and 33% behind the arc this season. They’re not gonna hit that a lot for the following 36 minutes. Simply maintain defending Solo Ball and Alex Karaban.”
I used to be proper, by the way in which. Diarra and Stewart completed the sport a mixed 4-for-4 behind the arc, with all 4 buckets in that opening run. MU did a ok job on Karaban, holding him to 1-for-4.
Solo Ball? Might as effectively name him Triple Ball, as a result of he went 7-for-9. Felt like about 12-for-10, and sure, I do know what I typed. He hit three of his seven within the ultimate 11 minutes, pushing MU’s deficit from single digits to double digits on the primary two and turning a six level recreation to a 9 level recreation with 1:48 to go on the final one. He completed with 25 factors and 11 rebounds, and tip of the cap to that younger man.
How about some highlights, similar to they’re, courtesy of GoMarquette.com and Fox Sports activities?
Up Subsequent: Properly, it’s not getting simpler. The Golden Eagles will spend subsequent week taking part in street video games, and it’s two doozies on deck. First up is at St. John’s on Tuesday with the Johnnies using an eight recreation successful streak after escaping towards Windfall earlier on Saturday. STJ is now a full recreation up on MU within the Large East standings. After that may be a weekend go to to Creighton, however we’ll fear about that on Wednesday.
