March 14, 1997 - Marquette vs. Providence

(10) Marquette 59 (7) Providence 81

The Marquette Golden Eagles season ended Friday night at the hands of the Providence Friars, 81-59 in NCAA first round action. Providence was led by Austin Croshere's 39 points as the Friars erased a defecit midway through the first half to defeat MU and move on to the second round. Providence will play Duke on Sunday.

Marquette got off to a good start, forcing the Friars into a shot clock violation on their first possession. Unfortunately for MU, it would be one of their few bright moments on defense.

With MU trailing 6-4, Mike Deane inserted guard Anthony Pieper into the lineup. Pieper was doubtful for the game after suffering his third dislocated shoulder of the season last Friday night against Cincinnati in the Conference USA tournament. After Pieper's insertion, he nailed three 3 pointers to give Marquette a 21-16 lead halfway through the first period.

The Friars responded by tearing up the Golden Eagles from the perimeter and on the inside. The Friars repeatedly worked the ball inside for easy baskets. When the Golden Eagles were able to clog the middle, Croshere or Brown would drill a 3 pointer. At the end of the half, Croshere tossed in a shot from 75 feet away to end the half. It was that kind of night for the Friars. Providence led 50-32 at the break and shot 77% from the field.

In the second half, MU tried to get back into the contest on the shooting of Aaron Hutchins. Hutchins finished with 20 points, but could not get the Golden Eagles closer than 13 points in the second frame.

With 4 minutes to play, Chris Crawford was whistled for his fifth personal foul. On the play, Anthony Pieper was cut from his left eye all the way down his face, yet no call was made against a Providence player. Coach Deane was extremely upset with the non-call and received a technical foul. Moments later, Deane received another technical which meant an automatic disqualification from the game. Croshere made all six free throws as a result of the technicals and foul on Crawford. Providence then ran out the clock to defeat MU 81-59.

The Golden Eagles were led in scoring by junior guard Aaron Hutchins who finished with 20 points. Jarrod Lovette threw in 10 points, and senior Anthony Pieper added 14. The loss ended Marquette's season at 22-9, the fifth straight 20 win season for the Golden Eagles. Marquette has now been to the NCAA tournament 21 times, 12th best of any school in Division I.

                           1st  2nd  TOTAL
Providence		   50   31    81
Marquette                  32   27    59

PROVIDENCE (81)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Croshere        35 10-16 15-15   2-6  2  1   39
D Brown         31   5-9   0-0   2-5  3  2   13
Garces          23   4-5   1-5   1-4  0  4    9
Thomas          34  5-11   0-0   0-3  1  2   11
Shammgod        28   1-3   4-4   0-1  8  4    6
Murdock         20   0-2   0-0   0-4  1  0    0
Pointer          2   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Wright          22   1-2   0-0   0-4  2  4    3
Cleary           1   0-0   0-0   0-1  0  0    0
Adams            1   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
N'diaye          2   0-1   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Cordella         1   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 26-49 20-24  5-28 17 17   81
_______________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.531, FT-.833. 3-Point Goals:
9-20, .450 (Croshere 4-7, D Brown 3-5, Thomas
1-4, Murdock 0-2, Wright 1-2). Team rebounds: 6.
Blocked shots: 2 (Garces, Thomas). Turnovers: 14
(Croshere 3, Thomas 3, Wright 3, D Brown, Garces,
Shammgod). Steals: 1 (Wright).

MARQUETTE (59)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Crawford        32  2-10   2-5   1-4  1  5    6
Abraham         23   2-4   2-4   1-3  0  2    6
Lovette         25   5-8   0-0   0-1  0  0   10
West            13   0-2   1-2   0-2  2  2    1
Hutchins        39  8-12   2-2   0-1  6  1   20
Pieper          36   5-9   0-0   0-1  3  4   14
Cliff            4   0-0   0-0   0-2  0  0    0
Joseph           2   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  3    0
Bargen          22   1-2   0-0   1-2  0  2    2
Shaw             4   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 23-47  7-13  3-16 12 19   59
_______________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.489, FT-.538. 3-Point Goals:
6-13, .462 (Crawford 0-2, Lovette 0-1, West 0-1,
Hutchins 2-3, Pieper 4-6). Team rebounds: 4.
Blocked shots: 2 (Abraham, Joseph). Turnovers: 13
(Hutchins 5, Crawford 2, West 2, Abraham, Bargen,
Lovette, Pieper). Steals: 2 (Abraham, Bargen).
__________________________________
Providence         50   31  -   81
Marquette          32   27  -   59
__________________________________
Technical fouls: Marquette 2 (Bench 2).
Officials: Rusty Herring, Terry Christman, Bob
Sitov.