Letting one slip away
Golden Eagles can’t seal the deal
Marquette entered Saturday night’s contest against Creighton with a game plan. Then for large chunks of the game, the Golden Eagles didn’t follow it.
Yet, Marquette had more than a chance to win. In fact, with 1 minute 42 seconds left the Golden Eagles were in the driver’s seat with the ball and a two-point lead.
That was the beginning of the end for Marquette (16-10, 5-8 Big East), which failed to execute over those final 102 seconds on the way to a 65-62 loss against Creighton (17-9, 8-5) in front of a crowd of 15,844 at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.
“We’re up two, we called a timeout to get a side out of bounds to try to set up a play for Luke (Fischer) or Henry (Ellenson) and we don’t run it,” coach Steve Wojciechowski said. “We don’t even attempt to run it, so we don’t get a shot and they get a transition opportunity. We don’t talk in transition, and after three passes we still don’t have matchups and (James) Milliken hits a three and that’s the game.”
Out of the timeout, the ball ultimately did find Ellenson, who finished with a team-high 16 points and eight rebounds, but not in the area Wojciechowski wanted. Ellenson had to put up an off-balance threepointer to beat the shot clock and it didn’t fall.
“I know we have three freshmen and a sophomore whatever on the court at the end of the game, but 25 games in out of a timeout you have to try to do what we want to do and if it doesn’t work then that’s on me,” Wojciechowski said. “But you’ve got to try to do it. Not doing it is not acceptable.”
When Milliken’s three-pointer — his first after going 0 for 4 — went down for the 63-62 lead, there still was just over a minute left to play. The shot clock again ticked down
and freshman point guard Traci Carter couldn’t connect on a two-pointer.
With about a 7-second difference between the shot and game clocks, the Golden Eagles decided not to foul, hoping for a stop. They got one but couldn’t corral the rebound.
Creighton junior Maurice Watson Jr. missed a driving layup, but senior center Geoffrey Groselle got his left hand on the rebound and slapped it out to Isaiah Zierden, who got fouled and made both free throws with 7.2 seconds left.
Marquette’s Duane Wilson got a last-second, contested three-pointer off, but it bounced off the rim.
“For the most part we knew that if we tried to play an 80point game against Creighton that’s not a game at this point — we can’t win that,” Wojciechowski said. “When they play games in the 80s they win, that’s what they do. . . . We had to play a game in the 60s, and with fewer possessions the more you’ve got to execute.”
Marquette’s inability to execute was on display on more plays than just in the final 2 minutes.
In the first half, the Golden Eagles committed 11 turnovers, including three of their five offensive fouls. Wojciechowski said driving the lane and kicking out passes was a major point of emphasis.
“If you over-penetrate, you’re either going to lose the ball or you’re going to get a charge,” Wojciechowski said. “So as a result of doing that over and over again in the first half there were 11 turnovers. . . . We should have gone into half up by five to 10 points, but we didn’t do what we were supposed to do in the first half offensively and that was disappointing.”
Over the final 20 minutes, the Golden Eagles adjusted and committed just two turnovers, including none over the final 17:51. However, their defense started to become a problem.
Creighton continued its success in transition, scoring 10 of its 22 fast-break points after halftime. Watson, a junior transfer from Boston University, was at the center of that but was just as deadly in the half court, finishing with 18 points and 10 assists.
Marquette had planned not to help off Creighton’s shooters when Watson, a 5-foot-10 guard, drove the paint, but that’s often what happened. The Bluejays went 5 for 9 from beyond the three-point line in the second half after going 2 for 16 in the first.
While a failure to execute cost Marquette — and essentially destroyed its chances of an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament — Wojciechowski emphasized the responsibility falls on him.
“Ultimately I’m responsible for all of this,” he said. “Our kids are learning, so I’m responsible for getting the message across so they do the things they need to do to win. Our guys are busting their butts and they’re trying and they work hard and they’re good kids — we need to get more from it.
“That’s my responsibility. It’s my responsibility; I take full responsibility for it. I’m not saying that to blame anyone — I’m responsible. I need to help these kids better.”