Marquette Battles, Learns to Win Close Ones

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – If you play Marquette, be prepared to earn every ounce of victory if you win.  Recent experience making teams do that has helped this team win and made them tougher to beat.

Buzz Williams is up front about his team’s identity.  He admits his team is “just okay” talent-wise, and that’s true.  The Golden Eagles aren’t full of McDonald’s All-Americans, instead possessing a team of solid, underrated players that don’t stop competing.  They’re not as talented or experienced as last season, when they had a core group of seniors who won a lot of games together.  It’s a roster the vast majority of teams in Division I would love to have, but compared to some of their Big East brethren it’s nothing to write home about solely from a talent standpoint.

“We’re just okay, but we’ll fight you tooth and nail for every inch,” Williams said.

Marquette lost three games, including their first two in Big East play, by less than five points before they finally pulled out such a game – their third game in Big East play, a 62-59 win over Georgetown.  Sure enough, the next time out, they were in another game like it, a 78-76 loss to a Villanova team that just a week earlier beat them by two.  Later, they lost by one at DePaul and five at Syracuse.

That’s five losses in Big East play by a combined 11 points.  They were a few plays away from having a few more wins, and a play or two away from having another loss.  But now the tide may be turning.  With an 82-79 win at Providence on Saturday, the Golden Eagles have now won four straight, two of them by three points or less as they pulled out a 70-68 win at Connecticut just a week earlier.

Williams isn’t quick to say that they are better from experience, but he doesn’t discount that it might be a key contributor, either.

“I definitely think over the last four games that we’ve made more plays down the stretch,” said the second-year head coach.  “I don’t know if that’s because we have grown from the previous five losses by a combined 11 points, four against top-eight opponents.  I don’t think that hurts – the results hurt – but I think that it grows you if you’re trying to learn and trying to be better.”

Marquette certainly did well to be in the games that they lost along the way.  Williams notes that all of the Big East losses except the one at DePaul came against a highly-ranked opponent, so just being in the game said something about the team.  Naturally, they want to win, and he doesn’t leave that out in noting that “it’s just not the result that we wanted.”

Ironically, although they pulled out Saturday’s game, they almost gave it away.  A three-pointer by Jimmy Butler put them up 78-70 with 2:06 left, before they traded a three for two free throws to have an 80-73 lead with 1:19 left.  Vincent Council missed the second free throw, but Providence turned that into a four-point trip as Sharaud Curry buried a three-pointer from right in front of his bench.  Council then stole a bad inbound pass and found a streaking Jamine Peterson for two more, and all of a sudden it was a one-point game with 55 seconds left.

After a timeout, Lazar Hayward, who had a big second half, grabbed a big offensive rebound and made two free throws to give them some breathing room.  But they still had to defend the Friars one more time, and managed to keep the Friars from getting it to their primary options, which forced Council to take the potential game-tying three-pointer that was no good.

“Obviously, that’s not good basketball, and you don’t want to finish the game or start the game like that,” Williams said of the final couple of minutes.

With their near-implosion in the final minutes, it’s almost easy to forget that the Golden Eagles had to rally just to be in that position.  Providence led by as many as 10 in the first half and took a 40-36 lead into the locker room.  A few minutes into the second half, they led by eight.  Last year, the Golden Eagles came from behind to win at Providence, but that was different as that team had a core group that was not only very talented but also knew how to win.  You had a feeling that team was going to rally and then put the game away, which they did.  It’s not quite the same with this year’s team.  But this year’s team has gained quite a bit of experience, especially in close games, and by now that undoubtedly makes a difference.

“They don’t get rattled when you make a run and a comeback,” said Providence head coach Keno Davis.  “The more experienced team you have, the more it helps.”

The Golden Eagles aren’t loaded with experience, but they have gained quite a bit.  That, along with their identity, goes a long way.  After all, they are just all right, but sometimes that’s enough when combined with an intangible or two, because some teams won’t do enough to earn every ounce of a victory.