The Marquette Golden Eagles saw their Big East tournament hopes crushed Friday afternoon after blowing an early 24-9 lead versus St. John’s to fall 79-63 in the quarterfinals. The Red Storm will play Creighton Saturday evening in the Big East title game.
Fading after a promising start to the season, Marquette finished fourth in the conference at 13-7 in regular season Big East play. In the tournament, they held on to beat Xavier in the semifinals, 89-87, but head home 23-10 overall.
With their loss in the tourney, the Golden Eagles have now gone 0-3 against St. John’s this season. Friday’s L was the worst of the three by margin, the significance of the stakes–a berth in the Big East championship and likely boost in NCAA tournament seeding–and the letdown of blowing a healthy first-half lead.
Early Advantage vs St. John’s Not Necessarily a Good Thing, According to Coach Smart
St. John’s junior forward Zuby Ejiofor had the game of his life against Marquette, going for a career high 33 points on 11-15 from the field and 11-12 at the line, along with 9 rebounds and 3 assists. It was Ejiofor who hit the game winner in overtime of the regular season finale between the two teams.
For the Golden Eagles, Kam Jones cooled after a torrid start but still finished with 24 points on 10-22 shooting. He added 7 rebounds and led the team with 37 minutes on the floor.
Clinging to a two-point advantage at halftime, Marquette was outscored 44-26 in the second half in a very disappointing end to their Big East season.
“Sometimes, when we get up earlier, it’s almost fool’s gold,” said coach Shaka Smart, “it’s like a false sense of where you need to be, but you know it’s going to be a long game.”
The last matchup went to overtime. In the season’s first meeting, Marquette fought to within a single possession before St. John’s pulled away in the final two minutes. Friday, they trailed by double digits for the last 6:36 of game time and things quickly ballooned out of hand. It was not a familiar feeling in the rivalry this season.
Tough Finish for Marquette Requires March Madness Redemption
The defeat also spoiled a pair of Jones milestones, as he moved to no.2 all-time on the program scoring list, behind Markus Howard. Jones also reached 2K points for his Marquette career.
In a breakout season, he is averaging 19.3 points, 4.5 boards and 5.9 assists while shooting 48.4% from the field. His surge in production has elevated his projected draft stock to a late first round pick, an impressive feat for a 23-year-old senior when the most coveted selections tend to be 18 or 19.
Including their last two regular season games, the Golden Eagles have dropped three of four and seven of their last 12. They fell from top 10 in the AP Poll earlier this year to #25 entering the week. ESPN bracketology projections currently slot them as an 8-seed in the NCAA tournament, set to face 9-seed Baylor in the first round.
St. John’s is a projected 2-seed, with a first round matchup against Omaha.
Although Smart and his guys stumbled through the second half of the Big East slate, a deep tournament run would absolve all prior shortcomings and cast the season in a clearly positive light. Many are low on Marquette given their recent struggles. The Golden Eagles will have to prove doubters wrong to get put a satisfying spin on the season.
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