[Cracked Sidewalks] Panthers ground Golden Eagles in Big East Semis

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Panthers ground Golden Eagles in Big East Semis

Written by: NY Warrior

Marquette's bid to reach its first Big East Tournament final fell short last night with a 68-61 loss to the Pittsburgh Panthers in Madison Square Garden.

Pittsburgh was led by the steady, productive Sam Young.  Young,  the best player in the BET this year, dominated the Golden Eagles on his way to 22 points and four rebounds in 39 minutes of action.  Young was an impossible matchup for Marquette -- too big for Jerel McNeal, too quick for Dwight Burke.

The Panthers, who never trailed, raced out to a  16-4 lead early and held MU comfortably at bay for most of the night.  The Golden Eagles closed to within three points in the game's final minute but the Panthers, who shot an impressive 49% from the field, always had an answer.

Meanwhile the MU offense struggled all night.  The Golden Eagles shot a miserable 31% from the field and lost the turnover battle (16-11).  MU out-rebounded the Panthers 41-30.

Marquette was led once more by Jerel McNeal with 17 points.  Wesley Matthews and Lazar Hayward each chipped in 10 points, while Dominic James finished with eight.  Dwight Burke played well off the bench again last night, grabbing a team-high ten rebounds to go along with four points.

Emotions ran high for Marquette in the second half, and lead official Tim Higgins threw gasoline on the fire (did he or didn't he try to eject Jerel McNeal -- the subject of a pair of lousy calls by the silver-haired court master).  The predictably thin-skinned Higgins clearly came unglued in the midst of an emotional game and delivered an embarrassing effort on national television, which is nothing new. Rosiak details all of this in his entry linked below.

Regardless, in the end the Panthers were the better team on Friday night and Sam Young was the best player on the floor.

Next up for MU (24-9) is Section Sunday where the Golden Eagles hope to claim a #4 seed.

AP recap
Box Score
Rosiak's recap
Rosiak's outstanding blog recap

http://www.crackedsidewalks.com/2008/03/panthers-ground-golden-eagles-in-big.html