Golden Eagles’ comeback attempt foiled
Seton Hall always had an answer against Marquette on Thursday.
The Golden Eagles finally dug out of an early hole and tied the game late, but the Pirates made clutch plays to pull out a 70-63 victory at Fiserv Forum.
Seton Hall (5-3, 2-0 Big East) has won five straight games against MU (5-3, 1-1).
“Seton Hall is old and they’re big and they’re good,” MU head coach Steve Wojciechowski said. “Credit to them. I thought they played really well and their kids hit some huge shots.”
The Golden Eagles, coming off a win at No. 9 Creighton on Monday, slogged through a listless start against the Pirates.
Seton Hall raced to a 15-5 lead with MU shooting just 2 for 9.
“Offensively, I thought we settled, especially early in the game,” Wojciechowski said. “They’re really big at the basket, but you still want to hit the post in some form of penetration. I thought we settled for a lot of jump shots early.”
The Golden Eagles also had four turnovers – a recurring theme in their three losses – in that stretch.
“The value of possessions are huge in every game,” Wojciechowski said. “But especially Big East games. There were a few turnovers that the defense didn’t force. There were 50-50 balls that were well within our reach to get that we didn’t get. We got to get better in those areas.”
MU would crawl back into the game, only for Seton Hall to push back.
In the first half, MU senior guard Koby McEwen hit a three-pointer to slice the deficit to 32-28. But the Golden Eagles’ Theo John threw a lazy pass that the Pirates’ Sandro Mamukelashvili picked off and took in for a thunderous dunk.
Mamukelashvili has been a thorn in MU’s side for years. The 6-foot-11 senior had a game-high 17 points with seven assists, six rebounds and three steals.
“He’s one of the best players in the U.S.,” Wojciechowski said. “I thought the best thing he did was his unselfishness.”
The Golden Eagles also started the second half slow and the Pirates took their largest lead at 57-46.
MU punched back with a 7-0 run, including a layup that got sophomore guard D.J. Carton going.
Carton hit a three-pointer to draw MU within 59-58 with 3:29 remaining, then he came back to the other end of the court and swatted Bryce Aiken’s layup attempt off the backboard.
The ball fell directly to Seton Hall’s Takal Molson under the basket and he laid it in.
Carton finally drew MU even at 61-61 when he drained a long three-pointer as the shot clock ticked down with 1:52 to play.
Carton finished with 16 points, the third straight game the transfer from Ohio State has led MU in scoring. He shook off a rough first half in which he shot 1 for 3 and committed three turnovers.
“This is his first time through the Big East,” Wojciechowski said. “And what you see game-to-game is different.
“Different defenses. How teams approach you offensively. That’s a learning curve for the guys that are playing major minutes for us that haven’t been through it before.”
After MU freshman forward Justin Lewis was called for an offensive foul, Shavar Reynolds had Seton Hall’s final answer when he knocked down a threepointer off a nice pass from Mamukelashvili with 42 seconds left.
After a timeout by MU, McEwen was called for a travel before he knocked down a three-pointer that would have tied the game.
Seton Hall iced the win at the freethrow line.
“Obviously we would prefer not to dig ourselves a hole like we did tonight,” Wojciechowski said. “I thought our guys had a stick-to-it-tiveness, which is good. And we’ve shown that on a couple of occasions.
“But you can’t rely on that to win games. You have to put a 40-minute game together. And I’m not sure we did tonight.”