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For precisely 10 minutes, America got the #1 vs #4 match it deserved. Back and forth, up and down, shots from both teams, and with 10:18 left, Oso Ighodaro scored to tie it Marquette make a backup with Connecticut at 18 points each.
And then UConn went on a 24-8 run to close the half and led by 16 at halftime.
Marquette didn’t score back-to-back baskets until Ighodaro and Tre Norman squared off with 2:34 left in the game to pull Marquette within 25.
Their finish: #1 Connecticut 81, #4 Marquette 53.
The damage was done in the first half as UConn added a 13-0 run to a 9-0 run. 18-all to 42-24 in just under nine minutes of play. Marquette once again became The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Well, falling for the three-point attempt to the tune of 2 of 13 in the first half. They compounded their problem by going 9 of 19 inside the arc, which isn’t terrible, but definitely doesn’t help.
The second half had nothing that Marquette can point to and say “hey, look, that was a bad nine minutes, things happen when you play the No. 1 in their building.” 40% shooting from the field, 3 of 10 from long range, seven turnovers, a technical foul on Zaide Lowery that I didn’t even realize had happened until my daughter texted me during the commercial break.
You know what’s almost annoying about this? I thought the most likely path for MU to be destroyed would be for Cam Spencer and Alex Karaban, UConn’s most dangerous long-range shooters, to light it up from deep. Instead, those two were just 3 of 12 from long range and just 1 of 8 in the first half when the Huskies were busy roasting Marquette over an open fire. UConn didn’t even shoot the ball very well overall: 46% from the field and 37% from deep. They were on fire in the second half, converting on seven of their 12 long-distance attempts, but none of those attempts did anything to put Marquette in position to lose this game.
And so Marquette’s chances of winning even a share of a second straight Big East title rested on the prospect of UConn stumbling and falling with its own shoelaces untied in its final five games. It’s not really detrimental to Marquette’s season, since The Golden Eagles were projected as a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament. a little over two hours before kickoff, but that doesn’t make a blowout loss any more fun to endure.
Until next time: Marquette has three days to reset and then try to start a new winning streak when DePaul comes to town Wednesday night. The worst team on MU’s schedule this season is now 3-21 on the year and 0-13 in Big East play as I write this, but they have to visit Providence on Saturday night.
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