No. 10 Marquette holds off Providence 79-68 to reach back-to-back Big East championship games
NEW YORK (AP) Facing a raucous crowd that made it feel like a road game and a fired-up bunch of Providence Friars, Kam Jones, Oso Ighodaro and No. 10 Marquette responded with the poise of a champion.
And now the Golden Eagles have a chance to make it back-to-back Big East Tournament titles.
Jones scored 23 points and Ighodaro had 20 as Marquette - playing without injured star Tyler Kolek - beat seventh-seeded Providence 79-68 on Friday night, withstanding a second-half surge by Devin Carter to advance to the final for a second straight year.
“I thought the building was frantic,” Marquette coach Shaka Smart said. “I thought it affected us at times. I thought our guys' poise down the stretch in the midst of that kind of chaotic environment, it's a huge part of why we won.”
The third-seeded Golden Eagles (25-8) will face top seed and defending national champion UConn - and no doubt a Huskies heavy crowd - on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.
“We know there’s a lot of things we’re going to need to do better if we want to be able to win tomorrow night,” Smart said.
Marquette is looking to win consecutive conference tournament championships after going more than two decades without one. The school's only league tournament title before last year came in 1997 in Conference USA.
Carter, the Big East coaches' pick for conference player of the year, scored 20 of his 27 points in the second half for Providence (21-13).
“I knew after the first half, I didn’t really do too much to help my team try to get a victory,” Carter said. “So I just looked at myself in the mirror second half and we had a talk in the locker room and I just decided to be more aggressive.”
The Golden Eagles played their fifth straight game without Kolek (oblique), last season's Big East player of the year. They seem to be getting the hang of it, winning the last three.
“The first thing (Kolek) said in the locker room, he grabbed me and said, ‘How about I play tomorrow?’” Smart said.
Smart said Kolek has not been cleared by doctors and the priority remains having him ready to go for the NCAA Tournament next week.
Ighodaro, the 6-foot-11 potential first-round NBA draft pick, was held to a season-low four points in Marquette's overtime victory Thursday night in the quarterfinals against Villanova.
The senior scored the first basket of the game against Providence with a jumper in the lane, had 12 points by halftime and was in the middle of a 17-2 run that put Marquette in control in the first half.
Marquette's lead was 14 when Chase Ross made a 3-pointer with 11:36 left in the second half, but Carter and the Friars made a big run of their own, powered by a Garden crowd packed with their fans - who were none too pleased with the way their physical and gritty team was being officiated.
“These games are really hard to officiate, I would imagine, because there’s a whole lot of jostling for position, if you will,” Smart said.
Providence cut the lead to 68-65 with 4:36 remaining when Carter - who had four fouls at the time - drove hard to the basket for a layup that sparked “MVP!” chants.
“I thought we did a good job responding,” Ighodaro said. “We kind of got into the back and forth and I got out of control a little bit. But I thought we did a good job of resetting and responding and coming together as a team and just really scrapping it out.”
A spinning move in the lane by Jones bumped Marquette's lead back to four with 3:11 left, and less than a minute later Ighodaro's two free throws made it a six-point margin.
Providence got it down to four again, but Jones and Ross scored going to the basket sandwiched around a Friars turnover to seal the victory in the final minute.
UP NEXT
Marquette lost twice to UConn during the last seven games of the regular season, including 74-67 at home without Kolek on March 6.
The Friars came to MSG in need of wins to bolster their chances to make the NCAA Tournament. Providence will go back to Rhode Island and hope for the best from the selection committee on Sunday.
“I hate that our fate is out of our hands, but we've got a little less than 48 hours to wait and see where our next destination is,” coach Kim English said.
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Time | Team | Play | Score | |
---|---|---|---|---|
20:00 | (Golden Eagles gains possession) | |||
19:38 | +2 | Oso Ighodaro makes two point jump shot | 0-2 | |
19:16 | Jayden Pierre misses two point layup | |||
19:14 | Chase Ross defensive rebound | |||
19:04 | Oso Ighodaro misses two point jump shot | |||
19:02 | Ticket Gaines defensive rebound | |||
18:42 | +3 | Jayden Pierre makes three point jump shot (Rich Barron assists) | 3-2 | |
18:29 | +2 | David Joplin makes two point layup (Kam Jones assists) | 3-4 | |
18:13 | Devin Carter turnover (Kam Jones steals) | |||
18:07 | +3 | Stevie Mitchell makes three point jump shot | 3-7 | |
18:02 | Official timeout | |||
17:47 | Ticket Gaines misses three point jump shot | |||
17:45 | Rich Barron offensive rebound | |||
17:42 | +2 | Devin Carter makes two point layup (Rich Barron assists) | 5-7 | |
17:31 | Rich Barron shooting foul (Oso Ighodaro draws the foul) | |||
17:31 | +1 | Oso Ighodaro makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 5-8 | |
17:31 | +1 | Oso Ighodaro makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 5-9 | |
17:18 | Josh Oduro offensive foul (David Joplin draws the foul) | |||
17:18 | Josh Oduro turnover (offensive foul) | |||
17:05 | +2 | Kam Jones makes two point jump shot | 5-11 | |
16:42 | Jayden Pierre misses three point jump shot | |||
16:40 | David Joplin defensive rebound | |||
16:28 | Ticket Gaines blocks David Joplin's two point layup | |||
16:26 | Josh Oduro defensive rebound | |||
16:07 | Devin Carter misses three point jump shot | |||
16:05 | Josh Oduro offensive rebound | |||
16:05 | Jump ball. (Friars gains possession) | |||
15:47 | Ben Gold shooting foul | |||
15:47 | TV timeout | |||
15:47 | +1 | Devin Carter makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 6-11 | |
15:47 | +1 | Devin Carter makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 7-11 | |
15:26 | Stevie Mitchell turnover (lost ball) | |||
15:14 | Jayden Pierre misses three point jump shot | |||
15:12 | David Joplin defensive rebound | |||
14:43 | Kam Jones misses three point jump shot | |||
14:42 | Friars defensive rebound | |||
14:20 | David Joplin blocks Corey Floyd Jr.'s two point layup | |||
14:18 | Josh Oduro offensive rebound | |||
14:14 | Oso Ighodaro personal foul (Corey Floyd Jr. draws the foul) | |||
14:05 | Tre Norman personal foul (Devin Carter draws the foul) | |||
14:00 | Josh Oduro turnover (lost ball) (Kam Jones steals) | |||
13:57 | Jayden Pierre shooting foul (Ben Gold draws the foul) | |||
13:57 | Ben Gold misses regular free throw 1 of 2 | |||
13:57 | +1 | Ben Gold makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 7-12 | |
13:27 | Corey Floyd Jr. misses three point jump shot | |||
13:25 | Tre Norman defensive rebound | |||
13:15 | +2 | Kam Jones makes two point layup | 7-14 | |
13:04 | Ben Gold personal foul (Josh Oduro draws the foul) | |||
12:48 | +3 | Josh Oduro makes three point jump shot (Garwey Dual assists) | 10-14 | |
12:35 | Stevie Mitchell misses three point jump shot | |||
12:33 | Josh Oduro defensive rebound | |||
12:24 | Ticket Gaines misses three point jump shot | |||
12:22 | Chase Ross defensive rebound | |||
12:09 | +2 | Oso Ighodaro makes two point jump shot | 10-16 | |
11:42 | +2 | Corey Floyd Jr. makes two point layup | 12-16 | |
11:27 | Stevie Mitchell turnover (bad pass) (Josh Oduro steals) | |||
11:23 | +2 | Jayden Pierre makes two point layup | 14-16 | |
11:06 | Oso Ighodaro misses two point jump shot | |||
11:04 | Ticket Gaines defensive rebound | |||
10:40 | Ticket Gaines misses two point layup | |||
10:38 | Ticket Gaines offensive rebound | |||
10:37 | Josh Oduro misses two point layup | |||
10:35 | Stevie Mitchell defensive rebound | |||
10:18 | +2 | Oso Ighodaro makes two point layup | 14-18 | |
10:01 | +2 | Jayden Pierre makes two point layup | 16-18 | |
9:46 | TV timeout | |||
9:39 | +3 | Zaide Lowery makes three point jump shot (Chase Ross assists) | 16-21 | |
9:08 | David Joplin blocks Josh Oduro's two point jump shot | |||
9:06 | Chase Ross defensive rebound | |||
8:51 | Kam Jones misses two point jump shot | |||
8:49 | Kam Jones offensive rebound | |||
8:46 | +2 | Kam Jones makes two point layup | 16-23 | |
8:15 | +2 | Garwey Dual makes two point layup (Devin Carter assists) | 18-23 | |
8:03 | Oso Ighodaro misses two point jump shot | |||
8:01 | Josh Oduro defensive rebound | |||
7:59 | TV timeout | |||
7:51 | Rich Barron misses three point jump shot | |||
7:49 | Chase Ross defensive rebound | |||
7:27 | +3 | Kam Jones makes three point jump shot (Chase Ross assists) | 18-26 | |
7:09 | Devin Carter turnover (bad pass) (Zaide Lowery steals) | |||
6:58 | +2 | Oso Ighodaro makes two point jump shot (Kam Jones assists) | 18-28 | |
6:58 | Friars 30 second timeout | |||
6:33 | Rich Barron misses three point jump shot | |||
6:31 | Oso Ighodaro defensive rebound | |||
6:15 | +2 | Kam Jones makes two point layup | 18-30 | |
5:47 | Corey Floyd Jr. misses three point jump shot | |||
5:45 | Zaide Lowery defensive rebound | |||
5:26 | Oso Ighodaro misses two point hook shot | |||
5:24 | Devin Carter defensive rebound | |||
5:16 | Garwey Dual misses two point jump shot | |||
5:14 | Zaide Lowery defensive rebound | |||
4:59 | Kam Jones misses two point layup | |||
4:57 | Zaide Lowery offensive rebound | |||
4:56 | +3 | David Joplin makes three point jump shot (Zaide Lowery assists) | 18-33 | |
4:34 | Jayden Pierre misses three point jump shot | |||
4:32 | Oso Ighodaro defensive rebound | |||
4:11 | +2 | Oso Ighodaro makes two point dunk (Kam Jones assists) | 18-35 | |
3:48 | Jayden Pierre turnover (bad pass) (Zaide Lowery steals) | |||
3:46 | Devin Carter personal foul (Chase Ross draws the foul) | |||
3:46 | TV timeout | |||
3:35 | Kam Jones turnover (bad pass) (Devin Carter steals) | |||
3:26 | +2 | Devin Carter makes two point layup | 20-35 | |
3:17 | Devin Carter personal foul (Kam Jones draws the foul) | |||
3:10 | Oso Ighodaro misses two point jump shot | |||
3:08 | Devin Carter defensive rebound | |||
2:56 | Corey Floyd Jr. misses three point jump shot | |||
2:54 | Josh Oduro offensive rebound | |||
2:54 | +2 | Josh Oduro makes two point layup | 22-35 | |
2:54 | Chase Ross shooting foul (Josh Oduro draws the foul) | |||
2:54 | Josh Oduro misses regular free throw 1 of 1 | |||
2:54 | David Joplin defensive rebound | |||
2:42 | Kam Jones turnover (lost ball) | |||
2:35 | Chase Ross shooting foul (Devin Carter draws the foul) | |||
2:35 | Devin Carter misses regular free throw 1 of 2 | |||
2:35 | +1 | Devin Carter makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 23-35 | |
2:11 | Oso Ighodaro misses two point jump shot | |||
2:09 | Golden Eagles offensive rebound | |||
2:07 | Kam Jones misses three point jump shot | |||
2:05 | Jayden Pierre defensive rebound | |||
1:51 | Oso Ighodaro personal foul (Josh Oduro draws the foul) | |||
1:51 | +1 | Josh Oduro makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 24-35 | |
1:51 | +1 | Josh Oduro makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 25-35 | |
1:35 | +3 | David Joplin makes three point jump shot (Stevie Mitchell assists) | 25-38 | |
1:33 | Golden Eagles 30 second timeout | |||
1:18 | +3 | Rich Barron makes three point jump shot (Devin Carter assists) | 28-38 | |
0:58 | +2 | Kam Jones makes two point layup | 28-40 | |
0:45 | Ticket Gaines misses three point jump shot | |||
0:43 | Jayden Pierre offensive rebound | |||
0:39 | Kam Jones personal foul (Jayden Pierre draws the foul) | |||
0:39 | Josh Oduro misses regular free throw 1 of 1 | |||
0:39 | Friars offensive rebound | |||
0:39 | David Joplin personal foul (Ticket Gaines draws the foul) | |||
0:39 | Ticket Gaines misses regular free throw 1 of 1 | |||
0:39 | Kam Jones defensive rebound | |||
0:17 | Rich Barron blocks Kam Jones's two point layup | |||
0:15 | Ticket Gaines defensive rebound | |||
0:12 | +2 | Corey Floyd Jr. makes two point layup | 30-40 | |
0:12 | Kam Jones shooting foul (Corey Floyd Jr. draws the foul) | |||
0:12 | +1 | Corey Floyd Jr. makes regular free throw 1 of 1 | 31-40 | |
0:07 | Ticket Gaines personal foul (Oso Ighodaro draws the foul) | |||
0:01 | Garwey Dual shooting foul (David Joplin draws the foul) | |||
0:01 | +1 | David Joplin makes regular free throw 1 of 3 | 31-41 | |
0:01 | David Joplin misses regular free throw 2 of 3 | |||
0:01 | +1 | David Joplin makes regular free throw 3 of 3 | 31-42 | |
0:00 | End of period |