Time to exhale: Marquette advances in the NCAA TournamentWritten by: mu_hilltopperMarquette fought off Kentucky in the final minutes of the #6 MU v. #11 UK game to win 74-66 and notch their first post-Wade era NCAA victory.
Marquette led by as many as 11 in the second half, but Wildcat Joe Crawford had the game of his life, hitting 35 points, keeping UK in the game longer than expected.
Wes Matthews sealed the game with 8 consecutive free throws in the last 30 seconds.
Jerel McNeal hit 20 on 8-15 shooting, and Lazar went 7-11 for 16 points. Marquette shot 44% for the game.
Note to teams playing at the Honda Center, the games are being played under "West Coast Rules" whereby intentional fouls don't exist. Twice in the last minute, UK purposely fouled Dwight Burke, the worst FT shooter on the court, far far away from the ball. Twice, the refs applied West Coast Rules and neglected to call an intentional. Oh, well.
Marquette will play the winner of the Stanford/Cornell game, on Saturday. Tip is either around 5pm or 8pm, TBA.
This day has been a long time coming, and I've been dreading it all season. Lose, and we're one and done once again. Win, and we've got the monkey off our backs. I hardly slept last night, but I woke up believing this was our day.
I admit, it was very odd seeing Marquette's name on a bracket line to the right. LET'S GO WARRIORS!
AP Wrap / Official BoxMarquette Press Conference:
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