The Golden Eagles (20-4, 7-2 Big East) not only matched the Friars' physicality, but overpowered them by out-rebounding the squad 42-29. Marquette led from the game's opening bucket until the scoreboard read 69-62 in favor of the Golden Eagles.,”Marquette played the role of a bully against Providence at the Bradley Center Saturday.
The Golden Eagles (20-4, 7-2 Big East) not only matched the Friars' physicality, but overpowered them by out-rebounding the squad 42-29. Marquette led from the game's opening bucket until the scoreboard read 69-62 in favor of the Golden Eagles. The victory extends Marquette's win streak to seven.
Sophomore Jerel McNeal had game highs with 18 points and 12 rebounds, while junior Dan Fitzgerald tied a season-high 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
"The first half was kind of played in a rag tag-type fashion with a lot of turnovers and a lot of grab-and-clutch basketball," said Providence head coach Tim Welsh. "And then in the second half, I thought they opened up on us in the first 10 minutes and established a little bit more aggressive play than we did."
As the midway point in the second half approached, senior Jamil Lott exhibited this aggressiveness by grabbing an offensive rebound and kicked it out to freshman David Cubillan, who swished a three from the corner with 11:28 remaining, giving Marquette a 51-41 lead.
The 2-3 zone of the Friars (14-7, 4-4) often failed to rotate to Marquette shooters quickly enough. Cubillan and Fitzgerald paired to shoot 6-of-9 from outside and to score 20 of Marquette's 22 bench points. On the afternoon, the Golden Eagles shot 45.3 percent.
"They made them, we know they can make shots," Welsh said. "You gotta get up on those to guys especially. … Sometimes you have game slippage when the environment is hostile and the other team is very, very good."
Indeed, the Bradley Center was especially excited as a sellout crowd celebrated the retiring of Dwyane Wade's No. 3 during a halftime ceremony. Once the game resumed, Marquette elevated its defensive pressure. Providence scored its first points of the second half with 16:47 remaining when Brian McKenzie sunk a three, making the score 35-33. The Golden Eagles began to pull away at that point.
Marquette extended its lead to 13, the largest of the game, when Cubillan drained another three with 7:08 left. The shot seemed like a back-breaker, but Providence stormed back with a 9-0 run, cutting the lead to four.
Four points would be as close as the Friars came. Junior Dan Fitzgerald buried a clutch three, his fourth of the day, to put Marquette up 65-58 with 1:55 remaining.
"Dominic (James), Jerel, and Wesley (Matthews) are always telling me to shoot," Fitzgerald said. "When they really press on it and tell me to be ready, when your teammates are pressing that hard, that means you gotta do it. And if I don't, I'm letting the team down by not taking shots like that."
Fitzgerald helped junior Ousmane Barro defend senior Herbert Hill and sophomore Geoff McDermott in the post. McDermott (2-of-8 shooting) did not establish a presence inside, though he did distribute well, finishing with 10 assists without a turnover. Barro contained Hill, who had 23 points and nine rebounds in the teams' first meeting Jan. 4, to just 14 points and five boards Saturday.
While Marquette banked on the clutch three-pointer, the big shot eluded the Friars. Sophomore Sharaud Curry led Providence with 17 points but had just four after halftime.
"We did a better job of guarding Sharaud in the second half," Marquette head coach Tom Crean said.
Curry's three-pointer on a kick-out from Hill made the score 25-23 with 3:24 left in the first half, giving him 13 points at that juncture. McNeal, who guarded Curry much of the game, also had 13 first-half points.
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