Most basketball players never see a game where they shoot 8-for-13 from the field. So it should go as no surprise that few, if any, ever dream of draining eight three-pointers on a given night. But that's exactly what sophomore Steve Novak did en route to a career-high 30 points in a 77-70 victory over No. 4 Louisville, Saturday.
"The shooting of one player was the difference," said Louisville coach Rick Pitino. "When they make 11 threes (as a team) and you only make five, that's tough. We let one guy get off. He's one of the best shooters in college basketball. He was extremely hot but it was a poor job on our defense. There is no rhyme or reason that he had several looks."
The three-point shooting was the difference, as the Golden Eagles (13-5, 4-3 Conference USA) shot 11-of-21 triples, while holding Louisville (16-2, 6-1) to a dismal 5-of-34 from behind the arc. Pacing that effort for the Cardinals was forward Larry O'Bannon, who went 2-for-12.
While Marquette was hot from the outside, it also did a lot of damage from the free-throw line, going 22-for-25 for 88 percent. Junior guard Travis Diener led the way with 7-of-8 free throws as part of his 17-point effort. He also doled out seven assists to just one turnover.
The game was back and forth throughout, as neither team shot very well. It was not until Novak's back-to-back three-pointers six minutes in that the team got going. The threes put Marquette up, 12-8. Later in the half, with just under two minutes remaining, Novak drove to the basket and pulled out a fancy behind-the-back dribble as he went to the rack before being fouled. He hit both the free throws, putting Marquette up 28-24.
Louisville's Francisco Garcia found himself covering Diener quite a bit and the 6-foot-7 forward's length was causing fits for the 6-foot-1 guard. As a result, Diener did not score until the 4:11 mark, when he drained a pull-up three on a fast break. And as the game went on, Garcia began to limp more and more due to a sprained ankle he had suffered a week earlier against Tennessee. On the game, he had 20 points on 5-for-15 shooting, seven rebounds and eight turnovers.
Louisville's Taquan Dean was also gimpy, but still played 21 minutes. Even though neither had their usual effectiveness, Pitino felt they needed the pair if they wanted to win.
"(Taquan) told me he could go," he said. "But to be honest, I didn't think Francisco looked that good either. We would have lost by 25 without them. We had to try and get the best out of both of them. They haven't practiced all week and their sharpness is off."
Besides Novak, forward freshman Dameon Mason helped pick up the slack. Mason remained very aggressive despite a 1-of-9 shooting performance, drawing several fouls. He also worked the boards, grabbing eight to go along with seven points.
The second half was much like the first, featuring a lot of back and forth rallying. While Marquette was able to hold the lead for most of the time, Louisville did go ahead 56-55 with 6:30 remaining on a Garcia three-pointer. But that's when Novak really stepped up his assault, drilling a trio of threes in the next couple of minutes, regaining the lead and stretching it to 66-57 as part of an 11-1 run.
"The great thing about his performance is how committed he was to defense and rebounding," head coach Tom Crean said. "He's been getting better in all those other areas. He deserves it and he works very hard. They are all products of hard work. What you saw today was two teams with great work ethics. We don't have a problem with him shooting as long as he's in rhythm. We didn't do anything special for him today."
From there, Marquette held off a late rally by the Cardinals, but free throws from senior forward Scott Merritt and Mason iced the win. Merritt ended up with 16 points and eight rebounds.
Louisville received a huge double-double from last year's C-USA Tournament MVP, Luke Whitehead. He notched 14 points and 19 rebounds, but it still was not enough to get out of Pitino's doghouse.
"I am not pleased with Luke and haven't been for the past week and a half," he said. "I don't want to single him out. We have been out of sync in practice. We have to get healthy. I won't let Taquan come back until he's healthy."
For the second time in as many years, the Golden Eagles went in to Freedom Hall and knocked off the highly ranked Cardinals. It was also the first time Louisville had lost at home since last year's loss to Marquette, ending a 16-game home winning streak.
It all happened in front of 19,864 fans who eagerly awaited the return of Pitino, who had been on medical leave earlier in the week due to an undisclosed illness that was causing severe pain in his side.
"They can intimidate you," Crean said. "They have the coaching and we had to believe we could beat Louisville. I didn't think our team thought we could beat Cincinnati and we lost and then followed that with a loss to Southern Miss. You have to find ways to win and that's important this time of year."