Marquette flew to New York City full of optimism after a solid first week. The positive mojo has been dashed after two losses at the 2k Classic, and although Saturday’s outing was a closer outcome, it hurt quite a bit more.
The Golden Eagles blew a 15 point lead, falling 78-75 to Pittsburgh in the tournament’s 3rd place game. Guard Andrew Rowsey, by far Marquette’s best player of the night, had a chance to tie the game with a final 3-point shot, but it came up just short.
Rowsey gave the Golden Eagles plenty of energy in the game, scoring 20 points on 5 of 12 shooting. He was a major factor in an outstanding finish to the first half for the Golden Eagles, who took a 44-33 lead into the locker room. Rowsey assisted on center Matt Heldt’s and-one layup with two minutes remaining and hit a coast-to-coast layup with a second left in the frame.
Marquette was up 59-49 with 13 minutes remaining in the game, but Young scored ten straight points to tie the game up. His 30 points was a career high. Pitt took a 76-75 lead with a minute remaining on an Artis free throw, but Rowsey lost control of the ball and dribbled it out of bounds on the following Marquette possession. Marquette got another chance down one point, but an open Sam Hauser 3-pointer missed, forcing the Golden Eagles to foul.
Two more free throws by Artis set up a last-chance shot for the Golden Eagles. Marquette’s first attempt, a drive by Rowsey, was emphatically blocked. He opted to shoot from outside with a second remaining, but wasn’t able to sink his fourth 3-pointer of the game.
The final stat lines look similar to the 79-61 Michigan loss, despite the closer score. Marquette shot 39 percent from the field and allowed the Panthers to shoot 50 percent. Young and Jamel Artis were the keys for Pitt. They combined for 51 points, 15 rebounds and five assists. Pick-and-roll defense was still a factor for the Golden Eagles, though Heldt was much stronger defensively than he’s been all season. Center Luke Fischer was forced to back off defensively, carrying three fouls for a majority of the second half.
Guard Katin Reinhardt had another night to forget, going 1 for 8 from the field. He went 1 for 16 with four assists and no rebounds at the two-game tournament. Guard Jajuan Johnson, one of the Golden Eagles’ best players, went 3 for 14 from the field and turned the ball over three times.
Guard Duane Wilson and Hauser made impacts off the bench. Each had 11 points. Guard Haanif Cheatham went 50 percent shooting, scoring 10 points.
Marquette (2-2) returns to Milwaukee to begin a three-game homestand. The run begins with IUPUI, a team that took the Golden Eagles to overtime last season.
