In a season peppered with late-game collapses, the Marquette Golden Eagles overcame a 16-point second half deficit and withstood seven consecutive misfires from the foul line down the stretch to escape with a 59-58 victory over South Florida Wednesday night at the Sun Dome.
Playing their first game after a week-long hiatus and under the bright lights of an ESPN2 telecast, MU (15-9, 6-5) earned its second road win in conference play due in large part to a strong defensive showing that offset an otherwise forgetful shooting night in which the Golden Eagles shot a mere 39.3 percent from the field.
Harassing South Florida (8-17, 2-10) into 19 turnovers—including nine miscues over the final 13:05 of regulation—and limiting the Bulls to nine offensive rebounds and a 35.7 percent (5-14) showing from beyond the arc, MU, behind a team-high 14 points from Jae Crowder, notched a must-win game en route to improving to 15-3 all time against USF.
Trailing for the bulk of the first half, the rust of the week-long break was evident as MU opened the game shooting 3-12 from the floor and trailed 17-9 with 8:44 to play in the opening frame.
MU, who shot 36.0 percent over the first 20 minutes, pulled to within 23-16 after a layup by Joe Fulce at the 5:07 mark, but they would get no closer as Stan Heath’s club held a 31-24 lead at the break.
Fulce paced the Golden Eagles with seven first-half points while senior Jimmy Butler, who came off the bench stemming from a concussion suffered in practice on Saturday, added four point and four rebounds.
6’8”, 230-pound sophomore Toarlyn Fitzpatrick, who entered Wednesday averaging 4.5 points per game, scored seven of his game-high 16 points in the first half as the Bulls shot a white-hot 68.4 percent (13-19) from the field.
Kick started by a three pointer by Augustus Gilchrist, South Florida opened the second half with a 9-0 run and stretched its lead to 40-24 with 18:04 to play.
MU quickly countered with back-to-back baskets from Vander Blue—who started in place of Butler—and Dwight Buycks but still trailed 44-28 with 14:24 on the clock.
Coming out of a timeout by Buzz Williams, however, the Golden Eagle comeback began to unfold.
Limiting the Bulls without a basket over the ensuing six minutes, the blue and gold capitalized to the tune of an 11-3 run to winnow the deficit to 46-39 with a little more than nine minutes remaining.
After a jumper by Jawanza Poland put an end to the South Florida field goal drought, the Golden Eagles, behind six points from Butler, pulled even with the Bulls at 51-51 at the 5:05 mark.
Crowder, who scored in double figures for the ninth time in 11 Big East contests this season, gave MU its first lead, 54-53, since early in the first half with a three pointer and stretched it to 59-55 with a fallaway three from the Villa Rica, Ga. native with the 1:36 to play in regulation.
The junior forward’s triple would prove to be the final basket of the night for MU as, shortly thereafter, the woes for the Golden Eagles at the foul line began.
Following a misfire from Chris Otule on the front end of a one and one, Poland was fouled by Darius Johnson-Odom and sent to the charity stripe, where the sophomore guard connected on the first of two foul shots to trim the MU lead to 59-56 with 52 seconds left.
Buycks then paid a visit to the foul line after a Butler steal with 32.1 seconds on the clock. The senior guard missed both attempts, resulting in a rebound by Fitzpatrick.
The Bulls pushed the ball upcourt, but Poland turned the ball over in the paint after being stripped by Butler. Upon corralling the ball, Johnson-Odom was immediately fouled and, like clockwork, subsequently missed both free throws to keep it a one-possession game.
South Florida appeared to knot the game at 59-59 via a corner three by Anthony Crater; however, prior to the shot, Heath called a timeout and the basket was waved off by the officials.
Coming out of the timeout, a three-point attempt from the top of the key by Gilchrist fell short and into the arms of Johnson-Odom, who was fouled and sent back to the foul line with 1.8 seconds to play.
Johnson-Odom, who finished 2-6 on his free tosses, was off the mark yet again on both attempts. Crowder swiftly fouled Fitzpatrick where the Tampa, Fla. native calmly drilled the first attempt and inadvertently banked in his second attempt in an effort to intentionally miss—sealing South Florida’s fate.
The Golden Eagles, who outscored the Bulls 31-14 over the final 14 minutes, next travel to Washington, D.C. to play the 11th-ranked Georgetown Hoyas.
Game Notes
- Johnson-Odom, MU’s leading scorer entering Wednesday, finished with seven points on 2-6 shooting.
- MU scored 22 points off of 19 USF turnovers.
- The Bulls out rebounded the Golden Eagles, 39-29, but were bested by MU in bench points, 26-12; fast break points, 6-2; and second chance points, 15-7.
- South Florida has now lost three straight and 14 of their last 17 games.
- USF shot 38.5 percent in the second half and 51.1 percent for the game.
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