The Golden Eagles earned an 83-76 victory on Friday afternoon against the No. 12-seed Team Brotherly Love in the quarterfinal of The Basketball Tournament, which advances them to the semifinal for the third year in a row.
Dwight Buycks, Darius Johnson-Odom, and Jamil Wilson led the way for the Golden Eagles. The trio combined for 52 of Marquette’s 83 points. This was the second straight game in which all three players found themselves in double figures.
Elgin Cook also flirted with a double-double, totaling eight points and eight rebounds.
Despite the loss, the best stat line of the day came from Team Brotherly Love’s Samme Givens. He had 22 points, 13 rebounds, four assists, and one block. The 6-foot-6 forward played college basketball at Drexel University prior to his professional career in the Netherlands, France, Germany, and Israel.
Devonte Newbill also added 13 points and three assists, while Ramone Moore contributed 12 points and four assists. Following the win, the Golden Eagles are ranked ninth in points per game as a team and have held opponents to just 71.5 points per game. They have the fourth lowest average of points given up among the 24 teams featured in the tournament. Marquette has also been shooting the ball efficiently, ranking third in field goal percentage and first in three-point percentage.
The Golden Eagles will now play No. 8 Red Scare in the semifinal. Red Scare defeated No. 9 BIG X back on July 8 and No. 16 House of Paign Friday evening.
The team, composed mostly of alumni from the University of Dayton, has been led by Ryan Mikesell, Ryan McMahon, Trevor Thompson, and Trey Landers. All four players have scoring averages in double figures. Despite the balanced scoring, Red Scare has the lowest field goal percentage of all teams that are still in championship contention, shooting the ball at just 40.3 percent.
Marquette will be looking for a win to secure its spot in the final July 12 at 3:00 p.m. Central Standard Time.
This story was written by Nick Galle. He can be reached at [email protected] and on Twitter @thenickgalle.
