Table of Contents
March 21, 1970 - Marquette vs. St. John's
Marquette 65 
St. John's 53
Recap
Al McGuire turned down a bid to the NCAA Midwest Regional in Fort Worth, Texas, after being denied an invitation to the Mideast Regional that was being held closer to home. Marquette accepted a bid to play in the NIT in New York City.
Marquette faced local favorite St. John’s in the NIT Final. Bill Paultz pulled down 17 rebounds for the Redmen (a record for a Marquette opponent in an NIT game), but the Warriors still managed to bring home the Championship, 65-53. Marquette's success came in spite of the fact that they shot just 58.2% from the foul line for the season, a mark of futility that stands to this day. The team was ranked eighth in the final Associated Press poll and 10th in the final United Press International ranking. They were ranked 10th in the nation in scoring defense, allowing 64.5 points per game.
Box Score
| St. John's | FG-FGA | FT-FTA | Reb | PF | A | TP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ralph Abraham | 1-6 | 2-4 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| Joe DePre | 0-2 | 5-5 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 5 |
| Billy Paultz | 7-19 | 1-2 | 17 | 5 | 2 | 15 |
| Jim Smyth | 3-10 | 0-1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| Richie Lyons | 1-4 | 1-3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| John DeVasto | 3-3 | 2-2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 8 |
| Greg Cluess | 2-4 | 4-5 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 8 |
| Richie Gilkes | 1-4 | 2-2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| John Phillips | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TOTALS | 18-53 | 17-24 | 40 | 25 | 10 | 53 |
| Marquette | FG-FGA | FT-FTA | Reb | PF | A | TP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gary Brell | 4-4 | 1-1 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 9 |
| Joe Thomas | 3-5 | 5-7 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 11 |
| Ric Cobb | 3-5 | 1-6 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| Jeff Sewell | 8-16 | 6-7 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 22 |
| Dean Meminger | 4-14 | 8-13 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 16 |
| Hugh McMahon | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| Jack Burke | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Guy Lam | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TOTALS | 22-44 | 21-35 | 26 | 20 | 13 | 65 |
Championship Quotes
“I thought we had won the game in the first half, but you have to give Lou (Carnesecca) credit. He keeps coming at you. It's been a hard week. You get locked up with 12 boys for eight days and you get on each other's nerves. But I was very pleased to meet St. John's in the final and beat them. And frankly, I don't care what other people think about us being here. I was really pleased with my seniors. They were fortunate enough to go out champions and they won it themselves. Our balance helped a lot. We had four different high scorers in four games and Ric Cobb played a fine tournament. I thought it was a toss-up between him and Dean Meminger for the Most Valuable Player award. Ric has that certain type of thing in pressure situations. I guess it's a tremendous confidence in himself. Because of our aggressive defense, it's very difficult to play four games in a week. We played our defense though, and we didn't let everybody shoot right away. I think that was one of the hidden things that won the tournament. We ran Pete Maravich (of LSU) into the ground. We pressured him on offense and kept running on defense.”
Al McGuire
Marquette Head Coach
“The only time I thought of that game was at the start of the second half. I was afraid if St. John's scored first, that might be it.”
Al McGuire, on the 1967 NIT Championship loss to Southern Illinois
Marquette Head Coach
“There is one way I say you can tell a pro in this game. When they put combination defenses on him, a triangle and two or something like that, he passes off. Unless the All-American passes off, his team is going to get beat.”
Al McGuire, on Dean Meminger
Marquette Head Coach
“The best defensive club I have ever played against. They're marvelous. I hate to lose, but my kids didn't quit. The whole team deserved the MVP award.”
Lou Carnesecca, on Marquette
St. John's Head Coach
“All the time in practice, you hear that voice screaming at you 'get up, get up, play defense, play defense.' You'll do anything to silence that voice. I just wanted to win it. I was coming back home and I wanted to win it for the people of New York.”
Ric Cobb
Marquette Player