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January 2, 2010 - Villanova vs. Marquette

(8) Villanova 74 Marquette 72

Eagles Suffer Another Close Loss

And the beat goes on for the Marquette Golden Eagles.

For the second time in four days, they played well enough to beat a highly ranked opponent yet couldn't come up with the key plays they needed down the stretch. The result was another crushing loss, 74-72, to the No. 8 Villanova Wildcats at the Bradley Center.

The setback dropped the Golden Eagles to 0-2 in the Big East and 0-4 in games this season decided by four or fewer points.

Once again, free throws and a lack of offense down the stretch did them in - they went 3 for 6 from the free-throw line and without a field goal over the final 4 minutes 11 seconds. And they weren't even able to get off a final shot despite inbounding the ball and getting it well over the midcourt stripe in the final 2.6 seconds.

“As Coach (Bill) Parcells said, 'You are what your record says you are,' ” said coach Buzz Williams. “We're 9-5 and we're 0-2, and we can get better or we can get bitter. Maybe it's my personality trait, but I attack every possession and every day like it's the same.

“I think that God continues to give you the same test, and until you pass it, you keep getting the same test.”

In the loss to West Virginia on Tuesday, MU did a remarkable job slowing the game down and mitigating the Mountaineers' across-the-board mismatches. While Villanova was a better matchup height-wise, the Wildcats had much more depth, and the Golden Eagles again concentrated on slowing the pace in a game that featured 13 lead changes.

The approach worked to the extent that MU led, 69-67, after a three-pointer by David Cubillan despite playing more than 11 minutes in the second half without its best perimeter shooter, Darius Johnson-Odom, who had to sit with four fouls.

It was Johnson-Odom who had an opportunity to add to that lead when he went to the free-throw line with 2:35 left. But after going 1 for 3 in the final 1:02 at West Virginia, he missed both to keep it a one-possession game for Villanova.

Johnson-Odom entered shooting 73.1% from the line.

From there, the Wildcats' Reggie Redding hit four straight sandwiched around a pair by Jimmy Butler, making it 71-71 with 56.5 seconds remaining. Then it was Lazar Hayward's turn, and after back-rimming the first he hit the second to make it 72-71 with 27.4 seconds left.

Villanova inbounded to Scottie Reynolds, its senior point guard best-known for his improbable full-court dash and basket in the waning seconds to beat Pittsburgh and send the Wildcats to the Final Four last season.

He delivered in this situation as well, making his way up court, splitting a double-team near the top of the key with a pretty behind-the-back dribble, and hitting a jumper in the lane while being fouled by Johnson-Odom to make it 73-72. Reynolds missed the free throw.

MU inbounded and, without Johnson-Odom available, got the ball down low to Butler. He was challenged by multiple defenders as he went up in the lane, but his shot was short, and the Wildcats rebounded.

“He missed it,” said Williams. “We ran a great play. Jimmy was wide open maybe 19 inches from the goal and he missed it.”

Villanova left the door ajar slightly for MU when Redding hit 1 of 2 free throws on the other end, with Hayward grabbing the miss on the second and calling a timeout with 2.6 seconds left. Williams set up a final play that saw Hayward inbound to Dwight Buycks, who took a few dribbles and got the ball almost to the three-point line.

But before he could get a shot off over two taller, converging defenders, the clock expired and MU had come up short again.

Butler had 19 points to lead the Golden Eagles, while Hayward had 17 points and 14 rebounds, Buycks a career-high 15 points and Cubillan 10. Villanova (12-1, 1-0) was led by Reynolds' 23 points.

There won't be any time for MU to lament its tough start to Big East play - No. 13 Georgetown (10-1, 1-0) comes to the Bradley Center on Wednesday, and the Golden Eagles then travel to play at Villanova on Saturday.

“We had a bunch of opportunities to take over the game and we didn't capitalize,” Hayward said. “The only thing we can do is keep working. We can't sit around and feel sorry for ourselves. We have 16 more games to go.”

Box Score



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men_s_basketball/nova_01_02_10.1262974829.txt.gz · Last modified: 2020/12/07 16:39 (external edit)