There were many apparent reasons why No. 17 Marquette was supposed to put away South Florida easily Tuesday night before setting off for a weekend road trip to Cincinnati. For starters, the Bulls haven't won a game since Jan. 2.
The Golden Eagles, meanwhile, haven't lost a game at the Bradley Center all season. And even if the game was close as time wound down, head coach Tom Crean and his squad could take solace in the fact South Florida shoots an underwhelming 57.5 percent from the free throw line.
But on a day when the temperature in Milwaukee was forecasted to drop from mid-40s to subzero in the span of seven hours, very little seemed out of the realm of possibility. Despite a lackluster start to both halves, the Golden Eagles did indeed hold on to beat South Florida 62-54.
After finishing the first half on a 17-4 run, Marquette proceeded to score seven points in the first 12 minutes after the intermission.
"We weren't able to get into what we wanted to do to try to break the game open," junior guard Wesley Matthews said.
In fact, while holding onto a slim lead as time wound down, the Golden Eagles were the ones suffering from free throw-shooting woes. Marquette entered the night shooting 78.3 percent from the charity stripe but managed to hit a mere 58.1 percent of its free throws Tuesday night.
Rather, it was the Golden Eagles' ability to sink shots from beyond the three-point line that enabled them to hold off South Florida in the second half. Though Marquette has struggled with consistency in its long-range shooting in recent weeks, the Golden Eagles hit 66.7 percent from beyond the arc in the second half against the Bulls.
Clinging to a one-point lead with less than six minutes remaining, junior guard Dominic James missed two free throws. But after South Florida hit one of two free throws on the other end, Matthews countered with a three-pointer to provide Marquette a 45-42 lead.
Matthews scored 16 points and went 4-for-4 from three-point range.
"Coach never told me to stop shooting," he said. "It was just a matter of confidence, and it felt good."
Sophomore forward Lazar Hayward led Marquette with 23 points and eight rebounds, but it was the team's ability to limit (relatively speaking, of course) the production of South Florida's main post threat—senior center Kentrell Gransberry—that proved most vital.
Three weeks ago, after Marquette beat Notre Dame handily but allowed Fighting Irish forward Luke Harangody to go off for 29 points and 14 rebounds, Crean and his players shunned the notion that their game plan had been simply to let Harangody do as he pleased and just focus on shutting down the remaining four opponents on the court.
Allowing a single opposing player to assert his will as forcefully as Harangody did that day would not be acceptable as the Big East conference season continued, they said. Somehow, the team would have to figure out how to contain dominant post players.
Fast forward to Tuesday night, when the Golden Eagles were offered an opportunity to demonstrate they have learned from previous experiences. South Florida featured the 6-foot-9, 270 pound Gransberry, who entered the night averaging 17.1 points per game and 10.8 rebounds per game.
Gransberry exited the Bradley Center having registered 15 points and 15 rebounds. He fouled out with 4:06 remaining.
"Until the four-minute mark, I thought we had a chance to steal something out of here," South Florida head coach Stan Heath said. "If I looked at the box score coming into the game and saw that (James) had three (points) and Jerel (McNeal) had six, I would say, 'Hey, we've got a shot.'"
With its next four opponents unranked, Marquette (15-4, 5-3 Big East) has a chance to climb the conference standings and gain some momentum heading into the home stretch of the season.
"It all starts in practice," Hayward said. "Coach makes us practice like we're down a couple points, and we take pride in those moments."