For the second consecutive week, Marquette took down a No. 12 team at Fiserv Forum, this time upsetting in-state rival Wisconsin 74-69 in overtime Saturday evening.
The win had plenty of late-game drama. The Golden Eagles had a four-point lead with 59 seconds left but then missed six consecutive free throws, giving Wisconsin three opportunities to cut the deficit within two points.
“We’re a fairly good free-throw shooting team,” junior guard Markus Howard said. “I’m just glad we were able to get the win.”
Wisconsin failed to convert any of the three opportunities. Redshirt junior center Ed Morrow then hit a pair of free throws to put the game out of reach with nine seconds left.
“He had two or three of the biggest plays in the game,” junior forward Sam Hauser said. “I’m glad he’s competing on our team.”
One of those other key plays came at the end of regulation. As Wisconsin star Ethan Happ went up for a shot in the paint, Morrow authoritatively blocked the shot, preventing the Badgers from taking the lead on a high-percentage shot.
“That was a huge play,” Wojciechowski said. “That was going to be two points because Happ is too good.”
Wisconsin sophomore guard D’Mitrik Trice turned the ball over five seconds later to remove any chance of Wisconsin winning in regulation. Howard had a chance to win it for Marquette in regulation with a floater in the paint, but it rimmed out at the buzzer.
Morrow also hit a basket to give Marquette a 69-65 lead in regulation despite four nearby Badgers players.
The win did not always seem likely. The Badgers had the lead for more than 25 minutes, including almost 15 minutes in the second half.
With 5:56 to go, Sam Hauser fired a perfect pass to sophomore center Theo John to give Marquette its first lead since the score was 20-19 at the 6:56 mark in the first half.
“That was a huge momentum shift,” Sam Hauser said. “The crowd got back into it, and (we) had the momentum on our side.”
Marquette never trailed by more than three points after Sam Hauser found Theo John.
The game remained within one possession for the last 10 minutes of the second half.
“In the huddle we were just talking about deep breaths,” redshirt freshman forward Joey Hauser said. “Staying calm, cool and collected was kind of our M.O. all game.”
Happ had 34 points, taking advantage of single coverage for most of the game.
“He’s going to get his (points),” Sam Hauser said. “You just got to try to limit the other players around him.”
Wojciechowski initially employed a double-team on Happ, but Happ’s passing forced the fifth-year head coach to change his strategy.
“He wanted to make passes out of the double-team,” Wojciechowski said. “He is able to make passes out of the double-team before the double-team even gets there.”
Other Badgers were not as fortunate. The Golden Eagles held Trice to 10 points on 3-for-8 shooting from the field and 1-for-6 shooting from three.
Poor free-throw shooting also downed the Badgers, who ended the game shooting 48 percent from the line.
“(Trice) is really terrific going up with his right hand,” Howard said. “We wanted to be sure to eliminate that.”
Prior to Saturday’s battle, the road team won the last four matchups between Marquette and Wisconsin. The last Marquette home win came in 2014.
“We’re trying to change that trend,” Howard said. “ We want to be sure that we’re protecting our home court.”
The win comes a week after defeating No. 12 Kansas State 83-71 behind a 45-point performance from Howard.
“We were in the same situation last week,” Sam Hauser said. “We knew we were going to have the same type of team coming in here (against Wisconsin) … We’ve crossed a couple bridges these last two or three games, and now we need to keep building off that and building our resume.”
The Golden Eagles will have 10 days off for final exams before hosting the University of North Dakota Dec. 18.
In the meantime, Sam Hauser will be celebrating his 21st birthday with bragging rights.
“Obviously this is the best birthday present I could ever get,” Sam Hauser said.
