Trailing its inferior foes for nearly 35 minutes Tuesday night, the road-weary Marquette men’s basketball team was facing yet another momentum-killing loss. On senior night in Piscataway, N.J., Rutgers gave the Golden Eagles all they could handle on both ends of the court.
In the end, however, Vander Blue’s 22 points proved too much for the Scarlet Knights (13-15, 4-13 Big East), as Marquette (22-7, 13-4) won just its fourth road game of the season 60-54. Marquette led 2-0 but didn’t lead again until Jamil Wilson’s three-pointer put the team up for good with three minutes left.
“I think a lot of people will say that there’s a huge difference between being 13-4 and 4-13, but I think when you are inside of that, you realize how fragile this is and how small the difference is,” Marquette coach Buzz Williams said.
Williams praised Rutgers coach Mike Rice for coaching a great game and giving the Golden Eagles a run for their money.
“I think Rutgers is good,” Williams said. “I think they’re talented. I think Coach Rice does really creative things offensively. I think they play extremely hard defensively.”
In the first half, Marquette struggled to find life offensively. The team shot just 35.7 percent from the field, making just one shot from beyond the arc. The Golden Eagles also failed to make a free throw until the 17:30 mark of the second half.
“We turned the ball over eight times in the first half, (and) we had zero free-throw makes,” Williams said. “I thought for sure Rutgers dominated the half on both ends of the floor.”
But Marquette rallied and shot 60 percent from the field in the second half. Jamil Wilson’s second half play saved the Golden Eagles, as he scored all 10 of his points in the final 20 minutes, including the jumper that gave Marquette the lead it did not relinquish.
With Marquette leading by two points and less than a minute to play, Rutgers guard Jerome Seagears dribbled the ball off his foot. Vander Blue scooped it up and drew a foul at the other end. He sank both free throws to close out the Scarlet Knights.
Rice said he was disheartened by his team’s inability to finish the game.
“I’ve talked about it before, the inability right now to understand how to close games out,” Rice said. “We are going to get there. We’re going to work on it.”
While on paper Marquette should probably have handled a team like Rutgers, Williams stressed the “anything can happen” nature of the Big East, especially in road games.
“That Rutgers is 4-12 entering the day and that we’re 12-4 and a half a game out of first place has no bearing on the outcome,” Williams said.
Marquette will need to remember Williams’ words of wisdom, as it plays Saturday afternoon at St. Johns and will host a likely inferior opponent in its first game of the Big East tournament. A win Saturday would guarantee the Golden Eagles a share of their first Big East title.
“You have to earn the right to win, whether it’s at home or on the road, and I think on a nightly basis, this league is as good as it is,” Williams said.