Eagles get lots of clutch plays in thriller
NEW YORK – This is why they call it The City That Never Sleeps.
The Marquette men's basketball team played a tension-filled game against Villanova that spilled past midnight, and the Golden Eagles earned a 71-65 victory in overtime in the Big East tournament quarterfinals on Thursday at Madison Square Garden.
Third-seeded MU (24-8) will play seventh-seeded Providence (21-12) in the semifinals on Friday.
The Golden Eagles won despite missing floor general Tyler Kolek, who is still recovering from an oblique injury. MU got big performances from Kam Jones (18 points) and Stevie Mitchell (15), while Chase Ross, David Joplin and Oso Ighodaro all provided clutch plays.
"I feel like everybody just stepped up in what they do," Jones said. "Meaning you lose a guy, especially one of your main players, you don't really have to take his spot.
"You just have to do what you do that much better. And I feel like that's what we've been doing since (Kolek's) been out."
Kam Jones' game-winning shot wiped away by review
Jones almost earned the victory before the clock struck midnight, dropping in a layup off a gorgeous pass from Ighodaro. But after a lengthy review, officials decided the ball was still barely on Jones' fingertips when time expired.
"Testament to our guys' character, their togetherness," MU head coach Shaka Smart said. "Initially we thought that the basket was good, and so we thought the game was over.
"But the longer it took to review it, obviously you're preparing for the possibility that you have five more minutes to play. And, again, the guys, there were really good eyeball contracts between one another talking about what we needed to do next."
David Joplin, Chase Ross and Oso Ighodaro come up big
Joplin got MU back on track right away in the extra frame, knocking down a turnaround jumper and then hitting a three-pointer on the next possession.
"Just staying aggressive," Joplin said. "Like Coach said or like me and Kam said, we practice situations like that.
"You think you might make a shot and think the game may be won and we go into overtime. We practiced responding and, like I said earlier, just staying confident."
Other MU players also got in on the clutch act.
Ross, a sophomore guard who has been elevated to the starting lineup with Kolek out, banged a three-pointer that broke a 63-63 tie. Ross has fought through shoulder and leg injuries all season, and also just recovered from the flu bug that coursed its way through the team.
"At times, it's been hard for him to be
himself because he's not 100%," Smart said. "But he's such a warrior.
"And I thought the way that he battled and was ready to attack was huge for us. They were giving Kam and Jop a lot of attention. A lot. And they were very physical with Oso. So that meant that other guys on our team had to step forward and be ready to make plays."
Ighodaro provided his usual allaround play with six rebounds and four assists. But he didn't make a field goal until dropping in a hook that all-butsealed the victory by giving the Golden Eagles a 69-65 lead with 18 seconds left in overtime.
"That's exactly what we were trying to do," Smart said. "We believe in the guy. He's a warrior. I've never coached a more conscientious player that wants to do well for his team and teammates.
"And he gets down a little bit when the plays don't go in. But we've got the ultimate belief in him.
"(Villanova's Eric) Dixon did a nice job all night long of being physical and being aggressive. So I told (Ighodaro), I said 'Hey, man, you got to attack Dixon the way you went at (Donovan) Clingan when we played UConn a couple weeks ago. He had a career-high shot attempts in that game and he was really physical. I thought he did that on the last play."
When will Tyler Kolek come back?
The Golden Eagles survived to play another game in New York City. That's the name of the game in this month.
Now they are just waiting to see when they will get Kolek back.
"Tyler has been practicing," Smart said. "Tyler is eager to come back. But probably the most conservative person in the room is our trainer and our doctor, and that's how it should be.
"So to this point, he's not been cleared to play in the game. And we're confident that will change soon. But we don't know if that's as soon as (Friday).
"But he's going to play next week (in the NCAA Tournament). Obviously we'd love to win the Big East tournament. We'd love to win tomorrow night. I think what our guys are showing these last couple of games, and even the two games we lost without Tyler is that we can compete with anyone, even while he's recovering."