MUTV UConn Recap

We've seen this before....Epic choke job by MU today.

We've seen this before....an Epic choke job by MU today. No other way to say it. An 18 point lead with barely 5:30 to go is squandered as Marquette goes into a stall offense and forgets how to play defense. MU loses on a layup with 4 seconds to go as #17 Louisville escapes 71-70 at home.

The biggest choke job since perhaps...oh....some 300 days ago when MU had a 15 point lead on Washington in the NCAA tournament and lost 80-78.

We've seen this before. Poor decision making, a stall offense, an ole defense, all with a commanding lead and refusing to continue to finish the game the way you played to build the lead.

Commodores edge Warriors in Nashville

Another quality opponent, another soul-crushing loss.

Marquette continued its unenviable run of close losses to good teams tonight, falling 77-76 to 24th ranked Vanderbilt in Nashville. The Warriors battled to take a 76-75 lead on Dwight Buycks' jumper with 19 seconds left but surrendered a bucket to the Commodores with 4.1 seconds remaining to set up the final sequence. After an MU timeout Darius Johnson-Odom dribbled furiously up the floor, lost control and turned the ball over to end the game.

Surely Marquette leads the NCAA in last second shots not taken.

With the loss MU falls to 9-4 on the season and heads to Big East play with exactly zero quality out of conference wins. The Warriors host West Virginia on New Year's Day.

Marquette shot an impressive 56% from the floor tonight and held the notable Commodore marksmen to just 26% from deep and 48% overall. Yet MU was unable to create a turnover advantage, connected on only 7 of 13 free throws, and as has been the case all season the Warriors struggled to control the defensive glass in key spots.

MU was led by Jimmy Butler with 15 points. Darius Johnson-Odom added 14, Buycks had 14, Chris Otule had a dozen while Vander Blue finished with 10 points.

Todd Rosiak blogs a recap.
Box Score.

Poof....

....and the season ends. Washington 80, Marquette 78.

Ultimately the Warriors were unable to protect a 15-point second half lead and showed nerves rather than poise down the stretch. In the game's critical final stages Marquette was no match for the Huskies, committing two turnovers and surrendering five offensive rebounds in the game's final 3:33 which led to four of UW's final six points. Incredibly, UW only had six offensive rebounds on the night but with the game on the line the Huskies gave no quarter.

Marquette finishes the season with a record of 22-12. Senior Lazar Hayward led MU with 20 points. Senior David Cubillan scored 14 points and pulled down eight boards while senior Maurice Acker finished with 13 points and five assists. Gentlemen, thank you for leading this overachieving bunch to such a memorable season.

Rosiak recaps the loss in his blog.
Box Score

Marquette Doesn't Step Up

Needing to secure at least four more victories to make the NCAA tournament, Marquette failed to step up against Pitt, falling 58-51 last night. The big killer in this game was the shooting percentages, where Pitt had an effective field goal percentage of 59.5% and Marquette's was 39.2%. Both of those were way out of line, and it led to Marquette's second worse offensive outing of the year (FSU). The planned Gold Out looked pretty weak too, except for the student section.

I'm really just not in the mood to write anything clever or interesting (not like that's new), so here are some recaps from around the web.

• Rosiak's initial blog recap
• Rosiak's more detailed blog recap
• The official Rosiak Story
• Mike Hunt stops playing Mad-Eye Moody long enough to add his commentary
  

Also, here's the Official GoMarquette.com release. It includes the box score, photo gallery, and some recaps. We're embedding the interviews directly.

Buzz Williams



Lazar





Marquette must now regroup for a three game road trip that takes the team to Cincy, St. Johns, and then Seton Hall. Honestly, we feel as though Marquette needs to win two of these three games, and then the games against Louisville and ND to avoid having to make a run in the BET. The game against Cincy will be 1:00 on Sunday.

MUTV: DePaul

High Comedy

Losing to DePaul?

DePaul, a team that was 0 for 24 in the BIG EAST going back to 2008? O-fer 24, folks.

DePaul, a team playing without its best player. DePaul, a team that lost its first five BIG EAST games by an average of 19 points. Sadly, a late lead against the absolute dregs of the BIG EAST is not safe with Marquette this season. Today's recipe for defeat included two seniors missing the front-end of one-and-ones in the last 30 seconds. Incredible.

Marquette's ability to close is officially comical. Welcome back, Shelley Levene.



To put it simply, MU has raised choking to an art form.

Marquette impersonates Shelley Levene

Marquette stole defeat from the jaws of victory once again yesterday, falling 74-72 to the Villanova Wildcats. As we've seen in each of MU's four other close losses, the Warriors fail to execute in crunch time. Whether it's inexcusable defensive breakdowns, missed free throws, or failing to execute offensively the Warriors can't close.

For now this team is playing like Shelley Levene though it takes modeling a beast like Blake to close in the BIG EAST. This team needs to close.

A. B. C.



With the loss the Warriors fell to 9-5 on the season. Already 0-2 in the BIG EAST, Marquette hosts Georgetown on January 6.

Marquette falls short; season and era end

What if......

Marquette's dreams of the Sweet 16 ended this afternoon with an 83-79 loss to the Missouri Tigers. After storming back from 16 down the Warriors saw a late lead slip away in the game's waning moments when they committed both a shot clock violation and critical turnover in the final 90 seconds of play.

Jerel McNeal led MU with 30 points, tying a career high he established in last season's tournament loss to the Stanford Cardinal. Wesley Matthews added 24 points and 7 rebounds, while Lazar Hayward was good for 13 points and 11 boards. Dominic James hit the floor for 17 minutes though he didn't score. Dwight Burke finished his MU career with 5 points and a season-high 10 rebounds.

Seniors, thank you.

MU/Nova Post-game presser

Courtesy MUTV Sports:



MUTV Recap:

Marquette loses heartbreaker at the buzzer

In what would have been the largest comeback in Big East Tournament History, Marquette lost by one point to #5 seeded Villanova, 76-75 on a last second tip-in.

Marquette battled back from a 17 point deficit to take the lead with 90 seconds to play, but couldn't hold on.

Jimmy Butler had a wonderful game, with 19 points and Wes and Lazar snared a double-doubles, but that was not enough to eek out a victory.

Heartbreaking. With the loss of Dominic James .. this season is becoming the year of woulda, coulda. These past 6 games would have been dramatically different with #1 on the court.

Now the waiting begins.

AP Recap
Box Score
Rosiak

MU drops fourth straight on Senior Night

After tearing through the first half of the Big East Season, starting 9-0 with visions of a Big East Championship, MU closed out the 2nd half 3-6, ending the season with a loss on Senior Night to #25 Syracuse, in OT, 86-79.

I don't know what to say here. The Bradley Center has been a sad place, losing James, losing to UConn, losing to Syracuse on Senior Night. Just a terrible way to close out the season, and a terrible way to send four seniors out to post-season. Brutal.

The overtime Senior Night loss reminded me of the Senior Night triple OT loss in 2001 to Louisville that ended Brian Wardle's tenure. It was truly a punch in the nuts, and you just felt so bad for those guys.

You want to read about the game, read the AP recap. What am I going to tell you, you don't already know?

While losing to #1-2 type NCAA seeds UConn, Pitt, and UL is no surprise, I think the NCAA seeding committee is going to look upon today's loss most seriously. It shows that a Dominic Jamesless MU team, can't beat a 6-7 seed like Syracuse on their home court in front of 19,000. I think we need 2 wins in the BET to look credible as a 5-6-7 seed.


AP Recap
Official Box
Buzz Post-game MP3
Wes Matthews Post-Game MP3
Photo Gallery

Marquette Suffers Two Heartbreaking Losses

I don't know what to say here.

I'm not sure the Bradley Center has ever been louder.

And ever been more sad, as news quietly spread from person to person, that Dominic James career was likely over. The guys at MUScoop are chiming in with their favorite DJ memory - -check it out.

The mood could best be described as manic, as Marquette endured UConn's runs, but fought back time and time again, without #1 on the court. Marquette had a fleeting 1 point lead with 7 minutes to go, but UConn, and specifically AJ Price, proved too tough.

When the clock wound down, the sadness was palpable, as fans realized they'd seen the last of James on the court, what that means to him and his family, the team, and the immediate future.

Fate has been so cruel to Marquette at the end of the past few seasons. Travis Diener, Jerel McNeal, now Dominic James, cut down before they could complete the year -- likely aborting a chance at a deep run in March once more.

"We had a small margin of error all year and now that's completely gone," (Buzz) Williams said. "We have to play perfect."

• Official Box Score
• AP Recap
• Rosiak Recap
• Game Blog
• Chicago Tribune recap with a sad photo
• AOL Fan House on the injury
• Jeff Goodman on the injury
• ESPN's instant analysis of the game
• Rosiak on the loss and the injury
• Michael Hunt jumps in, "What a break, what a lousy, rotten break."