Momentum is a tricky thing to hang on to, but the men's basketball team seemed to have had it tucked nicely in its back pocket.
Heading into halftime Wednesday at the Bradley Center, the Golden Eagles were up, 39-38, on the slightly-favored Alabama-Birmingham Blazers.
Playing against a tenacious and athletic Blazers team known for its ability to force turnovers and without their most reliable ball handler, senior point guard Travis Diener, the Golden Eagles were supposed to have a task on their hands.
But competent ball handling by senior forward Marcus Jackson and an impeccable offensive effort from junior guard Joe Chapman helped Marquette post a 60.9 percent field goal percentage in the first half and placed a big chunk of momentum squarely in their possession.
Then the second half started, and the roof caved in, the floor fell out and the walls collapsed all at the same time.
Barely one minute in, the Golden Eagles reached back and discovered their momentum missing. They scored just two points through the first five minutes of the half.
The next twenty minutes would show that UAB forward Demario Eddins had stolen the momentum for himself, going on a tear and besting his first half offensive output by 18 points, shredding Marquette's defense. He finished with 23 points and nine rebounds.
Eddins, center Marques Lewis and guard Donell Taylor put several nice series together, UAB ratcheted up the defensive pressure and Marquette got cold. All of a sudden, the game was out of reach, running away on the backs of UAB players streaking down court after a Golden Eagle turnover. UAB limited Marquette to 24 second-half points and went on to win, 86-63.
"Coming out of the locker room, I thought we definitely came out ready to play," junior forward Steve Novak said. "But when they came out in the first couple minutes they really jumped on us, got some easy buckets and just beared down better than we did."
The Blazers' improved their famous press in the second half and created easy baskets for themselves, while the Golden Eagles managed to shoot just 29.6 percent.
"We were getting good shots, we were executing what we wanted to do," head coach Tom Crean said of his team's first half. "The second half was a combination of them getting too many easy baskets, us not getting to the same spots we were getting to in the first half, and the easy baskets and their pressure, that actually took its toll."
That combination, in addition to the 50-6 points-in-the-paint advantage and 29-6 points-off-turnovers advantage for UAB, spelled quick death for Marquette.
After a 13-2 run in the first five minutes of the second half, the Blazers were up by 10 and Marquette couldn't get closer than eight points for the rest of the game. UAB peaked with a 25-point advantage with 27 seconds left to play.
The loss visibly frustrated the Golden Eagles, several of whom let out angry yells as the game wore down.
In addition to the dejection of the loss, Marquette may have to deal with the injury of yet another key player. After a first half in which he made all of the field goals he attempted, Chapman struggled in the second half before going down midway through with a knee injury. Chapman had to be helped off court, and the severity of his injury was still being evaluated Wednesday night.
This article appeared in The Marquette Tribune on Feb. 3 2005.