NEW YORK - West Virginia won't be playing any more basketball for a week, thanks to the type of problems the Mountaineers ran into at various times this season but had appeared to put behind them recently.
"We don't make open shots,'' WVU coach Bob Huggins said. "We made some shots in the first half and then the second half we didn't make shots. We don't have people who can drive it to the basket. That's not the kind of guys we have. We have to depend on making some shots.''
Backup point guard Junior Cadougan was instrumental for Marquette, scoring 15 points, dishing out five assists and making key free throws down the stretch. Averaging just 3.2 points per game, his career high before Wednesday was 10 points.
Darius Johnson-Odom scored 11 for the Eagles - including the key 3-pointers that gave Marquette the lead for good - and backup center Davante Gardner, who didn't even play when the teams met in January, added 10 points.
West Virginia led 41-31 early in the second half, but Marquette dominated from there. It was still tied at 55, though, as the clock turned past five minutes until Johnson-Odom made his back-to-back 3-pointers - both after WVU turnovers - and the Mountaineers never recovered.
Johnson-Odom had spent several stretches on the bench beside coach Buzz Williams before his heroics.
"He senses when I'm mad at him and he tries to prove me wrong,'' Williams said. "Those two shots changed the game. I know they changed the momentum.''
The best chance WVU had in the final minutes was when Bryant made two free throws to close it to 64-61 with 31 seconds to play and then stole the ensuing inbounds pass.
But he missed his drive to the basket, Cadougan made two more free throws and it was over.
"I had a clear path to the basket,'' said Bryant, who might have tied the game with a basket and a free throw. He got neither. "I just didn't get the call.''
Leading by seven, 36-29 at halftime, West Virginia appeared well on its way to start the second half. When Bryant made a 3-pointer early the Mountaineers had a 10-point lead and it was still nine, 44-35, after a Mazzulla 3 about four minutes into the half.
But WVU was about to encounter defensive problems because Flowers, who played less than five minutes in the first half, picked up his third foul early in the second. Cadougan scored seven straight on drives to the basket at one point and Marquette's comeback was on.
West Virginia's hot shooting for most of the first half and some eventually-solid defense at the end of the first 20 minutes is what got the Mountaineers their 36-29 halftime edge. WVU was 7-of-11 on 3-pointers and shot 58.3 percent overall before the break, but for a while it didn't seem to matter.
That's because Marquette was attacking inside, got Flowers in foul trouble right away (he played 4:51 at the start and then sat the rest of the half) and then later in the half forced two Huggins time outs with two largely uncontested layups.
Over the final five minutes, though, the Mountaineers solved all those issues, forcing Marquette into two turnovers and 0-for-5 shooting. Meanwhile, Bryant and Jones were scoring a 3-pointer and five points each and when Bryant capped the half with a fall-down drive to the basket for a layup West Virginia had completed a 14-1 run that erased a six-point deficit.
Reach Dave Hickman at 304-348-1734 or dphickm...@aol.com.
NEW YORK - West Virginia won't be playing any more basketball for a week, thanks to the type of problems the Mountaineers ran into at various times this season but had appeared to put behind them recently.
Those would be defensive breakdowns and turnovers.
West Virginia allowed too many easy baskets, gave up points on both ends of the floor because of turnovers at key times and lost 67-61 Wednesday night to Marquette in the second round of the Big East tournament.
"We didn't play lockdown defense like we usually do. We didn't get to the [defensive] spots we usually get to,'' West Virginia point guard Truck Bryant said. "And we turned the ball over way too much.''
It all added up to an unusually early exit for West Virginia from a tournament the Mountaineers won just last year.
"I packed a full bag,'' forward John Flowers said. "My bag is full. I expected to be here until Saturday night.''
Not this time.
Instead of enjoying a lengthy - or even multi-day - run in this tournament, the Mountaineers instead have at least a week until they play again to open the NCAA tournament.
"It's not a break that we want, either,'' said Kevin Jones.
The loss was West Virginia's first in a Big East tournament opener in the past five years. The Mountaineers (20-11) also won't be playing in the Thursday quarterfinals for the first time since 2004. Their six-year streak was second only to Pitt, which will be making its 11th straight appearance in the quarters.
It should not, however, significantly alter where WVU winds up seeded in the NCAA tournament when those selections are announced on Sunday. West Virginia over the past two weeks generally has been considered a fifth or sixth seed and that is likely still to be the case. The Mountaineers went into Wednesday's game with an RPI ranking of No. 15 and the No. 2 strength of schedule in the nation.
Marquette (20-13), meanwhile, probably put a seal on an NCAA berth that appeared shaky at the beginning of the week when the Golden Eagles had just 18 wins and had gone just 7-9 since Jan. 5. Marquette was just No. 64 in the RPI before Wednesday's game, but had four wins over teams currently in the Top 25 of the RPI.
It was also Marquette's second win of the season over No. 20 West Virginia, the first a 79-74 decision on New Year's Day in Milwaukee.
Jones led West Virginia with 15 points, while Flowers had 11, Bryant 10, Casey Mitchell nine and Joe Mazzulla eight. But the Mountaineers, who shot nearly 60 percent in the first half and made 9 of 14 3-pointers in the first 25 minutes, shot just 22.2 percent in the second half and made only one more 3 down the stretch.
"We didn't play as well in second half as we did in the first, that's for sure,'' said forward Cam Thoroughman. "We missed a lot of shots and made a lot of turnovers.''
"We don't make open shots,'' WVU coach Bob Huggins said. "We made some shots in the first half and then the second half we didn't make shots. We don't have people who can drive it to the basket. That's not the kind of guys we have. We have to depend on making some shots.''
Backup point guard Junior Cadougan was instrumental for Marquette, scoring 15 points, dishing out five assists and making key free throws down the stretch. Averaging just 3.2 points per game, his career high before Wednesday was 10 points.
Darius Johnson-Odom scored 11 for the Eagles - including the key 3-pointers that gave Marquette the lead for good - and backup center Davante Gardner, who didn't even play when the teams met in January, added 10 points.
West Virginia led 41-31 early in the second half, but Marquette dominated from there. It was still tied at 55, though, as the clock turned past five minutes until Johnson-Odom made his back-to-back 3-pointers - both after WVU turnovers - and the Mountaineers never recovered.
Johnson-Odom had spent several stretches on the bench beside coach Buzz Williams before his heroics.
"He senses when I'm mad at him and he tries to prove me wrong,'' Williams said. "Those two shots changed the game. I know they changed the momentum.''
The best chance WVU had in the final minutes was when Bryant made two free throws to close it to 64-61 with 31 seconds to play and then stole the ensuing inbounds pass.
But he missed his drive to the basket, Cadougan made two more free throws and it was over.
"I had a clear path to the basket,'' said Bryant, who might have tied the game with a basket and a free throw. He got neither. "I just didn't get the call.''
Leading by seven, 36-29 at halftime, West Virginia appeared well on its way to start the second half. When Bryant made a 3-pointer early the Mountaineers had a 10-point lead and it was still nine, 44-35, after a Mazzulla 3 about four minutes into the half.
But WVU was about to encounter defensive problems because Flowers, who played less than five minutes in the first half, picked up his third foul early in the second. Cadougan scored seven straight on drives to the basket at one point and Marquette's comeback was on.
West Virginia's hot shooting for most of the first half and some eventually-solid defense at the end of the first 20 minutes is what got the Mountaineers their 36-29 halftime edge. WVU was 7-of-11 on 3-pointers and shot 58.3 percent overall before the break, but for a while it didn't seem to matter.
That's because Marquette was attacking inside, got Flowers in foul trouble right away (he played 4:51 at the start and then sat the rest of the half) and then later in the half forced two Huggins time outs with two largely uncontested layups.
Over the final five minutes, though, the Mountaineers solved all those issues, forcing Marquette into two turnovers and 0-for-5 shooting. Meanwhile, Bryant and Jones were scoring a 3-pointer and five points each and when Bryant capped the half with a fall-down drive to the basket for a layup West Virginia had completed a 14-1 run that erased a six-point deficit.
Reach Dave Hickman at 304-348-1734 or dphickm...@aol.com.
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