[Rosiak's Blog] MU 91, Providence 82

[ToddRosiakSays]

MU 91, Providence 82


Jan. 17, 2009  




Providence, R.I. — There is absolutely no quit in these Marquette Golden Eagles.

Guarding no one, being pounded on the boards and essentially left for dead early in the second half, MU mounted a comeback for the ages over the final 8 minutes 38 seconds to beat the Providence Friars, 91-82, on Saturday night at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center and remain one of just two unbeaten teams in the Big East.

Jerel McNeal and Lazar Hayward each scored 25 points to lead the 14th-ranked Golden Eagles (16-2, 5-0), which shot 54.5% over the final 20 minutes. Wesley Matthews added 22 points.

Marshon Brooks scored 22 points to lead Providence (11-6, 3-2), while Geoff McDermott added 15 points and 17 rebounds. The Friars lost despite shooting 56.4% for the game and out-rebounded the Golden Eagles, 38-27.

Providence used a 14-6 run out of the locker room to go up 59-46, with 14 minutes 44 seconds left, seemingly well in control of a game it had dictated from the opening tip.

It was during this run that a scary sequence unfolded. In the middle of a pair of McDermott free throws, a fan made his way into the middle of the lane, apparently upset that Friars guard had been knocked out of the game after sustaining a gash under his right eye during the previous sequence.

There was no immediate reaction by security, leaving Providence big man Jonathan Kale, who was lined up in the lane, to step in front of the fan, who apparently was looking to confront the MU player he thought had injured Xavier.

Eventually, the fan was escorted off the court, and McDermott knocked down the second free throw.

Despite the deficit and the strange sequence of events the Golden Eagles didn’t quit, and eventually pulled to within 74-72 on a three-pointer from the right corner by Hayward with 7:24 left — his second straight.

MU finally pulled even at 76-76 with 5:24 left on a James dunk off a Friars turnover, and after Providence missed three consecutive free throws took its first lead since the opening minutes when Hayward canned a long three from the right wing.

Providence, totally stunned, simply folded the rest of the way. By the time it was all said and done the Golden Eagles had outscored the Friars, 26-10 over the final 8:38 to escape with arguably the biggest victory to date for coach Buzz Williams & Co., leaving what was left of the crowd of 10,221 in shock.

Much like it did in its last trip to Providence two seasons ago, MU had problems from the outset against the Friars’ zone.

Nearly all the Golden Eagles’ offense in the early going came off transition, and they didn’t defend well either, as they allowed Providence to knock down five of its first eight shots to take a 10-7 lead with 15:53 remaining in the first half.

MU led briefly at 11-10, and appeared to get a big leg up on Providence by getting into the bonus at the 15:01 mark. But McNeal missed the front end, McDermott scored on a layup on the other end, and before long the Friars were rolling again, not to mention in the bonus themselves.

Over the course of the next 6:14, Providence went on a 16-6 run — with 12 of those points coming on either layups or dunks — to open up its largest lead of the game at 28-16 with 8:36 to go in the half.

With so little resistance on the inside against 6-foot-10 Randall Hanke and the 6-8 McDermott and Kale, Williams made a bit of an unexpected move by going deep into his bench for 6-7 sophomore Joe Fulce, who had played just five minutes in one of the Golden Eagles’ previous four Big East games.

He responded with a layup almost immediately upon entering, and after a pair of McNeal free throws at the 5:35 mark the Golden Eagles had narrowed the gap to 34-30. But just like that, three-pointers by Jeff Xavier and Sharaud Curry sandwiched around a Matthews dunk extended Providence’s lead to 41-32.

MU scored on its final four possessions of the half, with a dunk and another layup coming from Fulce, who was playing the role of baseline runner against the zone, to head into halftime trailing, 45-40.

McNeal led the way with 11 points for MU, which allowed Providence to shoot 55.9% (19 for 34). Hayward added nine, Matthews eight and Fulce six as the Golden Eagles knocked down 47.1% of their attempts (16 for 34).

Xavier and Marshon Brooks scored 10 apiece to pace the Friars, and McDermott added eight to go along with 11 of Providence’s 19 rebounds.

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