[Cracked Sidewalks] Marquette blows 17 point second half lead to lose Old Spice Classic

[CrackedSidewalksSays]

Marquette blows 17 point second half lead to lose Old Spice Classic

Written by: noreply@blogger.com (muwarrior92)

Marquette had a golden opportunity to secure the Old Spice Classic in Orlando tonight as they faced the 5-1 Seminoles of Florida State.  MU dominated much of the game leading by 12 at halftime and as many as 17 points in the second half.

With under 10 minutes to play, MU still held a double digit lead when the wheels began coming off.  Over the course of the next 8 minutes, MU would score just 6 points while bricking free throws, layups, and 3 point shots.  FSU tied the game at 48-48 with 3:51 remaining.

Lazar Hayward gave the Golden Eagles a lead again with a jump shot near the free throw line only to have FSU tie it with a tip in.   MU surged ahead again with under two minutes to play on a Darius Johnson-Odom layup....the lead was short lived as an FSU three pointer gave the Seminoles their first lead since the early minutes of the first half.

The last minute became a back and forth affair with both teams hitting shots to put their clubs ahead.  Senior Mo Acker drove for a layup putting MU up 54-53 with just over a minute to play.  FSU answered with a 2 point jumper with 56 seconds to go.    After a Buzz Williams timeout, Mo Acker found senior Lazar Hayward for another jumper giving MU a 1 point lead with 32 seconds remaining.

FSU decided to go down low again to Solomon Alabi for a third straight possession while MU chose not to double the post.  Alabi spun toward the baseline and hit a short jumper to put FSU up for good at 57-56 with 12 seconds remaining.

After a FSU timeout, MU had a chance to go for the winning shot.  Acker brought the ball up  and  passed to Jimmy Butler who came across the lane and threw an errant pass to high which went out of bounds.  It was somewhat indicative of Butler's game in the second half where he struggled mightily at the free throw line.

With 3 seconds left, Buzz put Mbao on the inbound passer and it almost worked.  Johnson-Odom stole the ball but fell out of bounds.  FSU then threw a home run ball that MU also stole with 1 second left but Buzz Williams request for a timeout was not granted while Hayward threw up a desperation shot.

MU lost 57-56.  A missed golden opportunity with the game well in hand.  Tough to get greedy since very few expected MU to even be playing for the championship tonight, but this is a game they should have won.

The Golden Eagles shot poorly everywhere tonight.  Only 52.6% from the free throw line, less than 40% from the field and only 22% from beyond the arc.


ESPN Recap  


Boxscore

http://www.crackedsidewalks.com/2009/11/marquette-blows-17-point-second-half.html

[MuMark]

It was DJO and not Butler who threw the bad pass at the end.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Thanks, corrected

[romey]

By the way, what's the deal with the refs not giving Buzz the timeout when Lazar intercepted the inbound pass?  The announcers even pointed out the bench can call a timeout.  I would think that in that situation, with the ball in the air, that the refs might anticipate a timeout call by the bench and maybe on the lookout for it.

[Daniel]

By the way, what's the deal with the refs not giving Buzz the timeout when Lazar intercepted the inbound pass?  The announcers even pointed out the bench can call a timeout.  I would think that in that situation, with the ball in the air, that the refs might anticipate a timeout call by the bench and maybe on the lookout for it.

I was wondering the same thing - on the initial inbounds that Mbao blocked he tried to call a TO and they did not acknowledge