Care to Dance?

In one evening, the speculation surrounding the Marquette Golden Eagles Men’s basketball squad transformed from whether or not the team will even make the NCAA Tournament, to where it will be seeded. Yes, the preseason pick to be 12th in the Big East showed up to play versus Louisville last night and may have locked up the bid that was theirs to earn.

So many times this season the Golden Eagles failed to take advantage of opportunities; other times, they seemed to try their darndest to give games away. The ‘Nova loses fall into the first category; missed free throws at the end cost MU those games. Pittsburgh sure looked tough two weeks ago at the Bradley Center, but Marquette was certainly in it. But silly turnovers and frequent missed free throws (both at critical stages of the game) made me think I was watching the Marquette high school team that competes just down the road from campus.

Those three OT victories in a row were no doubt impressive . . . but did they all have to come down to an extra period? Against Cincinnati, MU gave up a 13 point lead prior to halftime and fought to stay in the game for most of the second half. They built a 4-point lead – significant in this close a game – with about 6 minutes left, but later needed Lazar Hayward’s last-second tre to force OT. Versus St. John’s, the team shot a putrid 34.4%, and a few days later couldn’t buy a rebound from Seton Hall.

The bottom line? Marquette won each game, despite its struggles. It wasn’t pretty – they should have won at least two (if not all) of those contests in regulation – but you can’t say enough for the mettle the team showed in pulling each game out. Um, oh, yea, those games were all on the road, too.

In order to make the tournament, the Golden Eagles needed to start closing out games.

Check.

To make noise in the tournament, they need to follow the blue print they laid out during the last four games (in particular, Tuesday evening’s jaunt against Pitino’s crew). Marquette’s not big, but the intensity and skill with which they played last night could earn them an upset or two in the Big Dance.