This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things: Providence 79, Marquette 78

Much like their Tuesday night upset of #1 ranked Villanova, YOUR Marquette Golden Eagles found themselves trailing 40-32 at halftime on Saturday. Except instead of the best team in the country on the other end of the court, it was the Providence Friars, who were coming off a loss to St. John’s on Wednesday. I’m sorry, that’s a home loss to St. John’s on Wednesday.

Yeah, it wasn’t good.

It got a little bit better in the second half, but by the final horn, it wasn’t enough. Marquette managed to take a lead shortly after halftime, but the Friars made shot after shot, building a lead and holding on for dear life to get a 79-78 victory over Marquette.

MU drops to 14-7 on the year and 5-4 in Big East play after Katin Reinhardt had two cracks at the basket in the final 13 seconds of the game, both coming out of timeouts, but neither one came close to falling. His first attempt was a layup that was swatted out of bounds by Rodney Bullock, and his second attempt was a spinning leaning jumper that, if it had fallen, would have gone down in history as one of the uglier looking game winning shots you’ve ever seen.

But it bounced away, PC’s Emmitt Holt wrapped it up, and that was that.

Ultimately, it comes down to defense, specifically the defense that Marquette didn’t play. The Friars shot 49% for the game and 55% from behind the three point arc in the game. Four PC players scored in double digits, but none was as deadly as Kyron Cartwright, who went 7-for-12 on the afternoon, including making two of his three long ball attempts and allegedly throwing a throat slashing gesture at the student section at one point.

If you looked at Marquette’s offensive numbers for the day, you’d probably come away pretty impressed, and for good reason. Andrew Rowsey was fantastic, scoring 23 points on just eight shots. His ability to pump fake his man into the air sent him to the free throw line for 10 attempts, and he made every single one, including the bonus on a made trey with 36 seconds left that suddenly breathed new life into the Golden Eagles. Down six, with 47 seconds left? Bad. Down just two with 36 to play? NOT TOO SHABBY. Luke Fischer had one of the best games you’ll ever see from the big man, recording 13 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, and two blocks, but it wasn’t even the best game we could have gotten. Fischer fouled out with 2:10 to play and only played 25 minutes as a result of his foul problems.

How about some highlights, such as they are, courtesy of Fox Sports Wisconsin and GoMarquette.com?

Up Next: Well, after tacking on a loss in a winnable game, Marquette can’t afford to let that happen again this season. That comes into play on Wednesday, when the Golden Eagles kick off February with a trip to Madison Square Garden to face St. John’s. Yes, that same Red Storm team that just beat Providence in the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. Hoo boy.