Creighton 75, Marquette 69 (2OT): Golden Eagles drop another Big East game
That elusive first Big East victory was right there for the Marquette men's basketball team.
Instead the Golden Eagles were left frustrated after letting the chance slip away in a 75-69 loss in double overtime to Creighton on Saturday at Fiserv Forum.
MU (8-6, 0-3 Big East) was in good shape with a 65-60 lead heading into the final two minutes of the first overtime. Tyler Kolek's two free throws made it 67-64 with 11 seconds left. After it looked like MU had forced a turnover along the sideline, the call was overturned on a replay when officials determined the ball went off Kolek. That gave Creighton one more chance with just under three seconds remaining.
Once again, the Golden Eagles opted not to foul. Creighton took advantage with Alex O'Connell nailing a three-pointer to force another five minutes.
Box score: Creighton 75, Marquette 69 (2 OTs)
More: Marquette's Justin Lewis has been an artist in the paint. Can he keep it up in the Big East?
"We normally, when there's six seconds or less, do," Smart said of fouling in that situation. "It was unique situation with the ball being on the side there. What we didn't want to happen was them to throw it in and for us to go foul and then get into the shooting motion.
"Obviously when you watch the play back, you certainly would want to do something different. Either really, really play a lot more aggressive defensively or foul. But I've unfortunately seen it work out the wrong way both ways. I think for us, regardless of what we're doing, it's about executing it and finding a way. And I think it's really important not to encapsulate a game in one play."
In the second overtime, MU made its first shot from Justin Lewis (nine points on 4-for-18 shooting) but missed the next six with Creighton coach Greg McDermott throwing a curveball with a zone defense. Ryan Hawkins gave the Bluejays the lead for good at 72-69 with a three-pointer.
"They don't even play much zone," Smart said. "I thought our aggressiveness against it was not good enough. I think part of it was second overtime, there was probably a level of fatigue on the part of both teams.
"And then part of it was, it takes a really, really tough-minded team to respond from a gut-punch like that shot that O'Connell made. We didn't do that well enough in the second overtime. I thought our guys tried but, man, that takes real steely resolve. And that's something that we're not there yet."
It was another installment of what has been a wild series in recent seasons. Last season, MU had a 54-point second half to stun then-No. 9 Creighton in Omaha, Nebraska. In the 2017-18 season, the Golden Eagles also had a big comeback at Creighton after star guard Markus Howard was hurt. That same season, in Milwaukee, Andrew Rowsey hit a couple long-range bombs to get MU a win in its final game at the Bradley Center.
The craziest ending came on Jan. 9, 2019, when Sam Hauser sank a three-pointer at the buzzer to force overtime in a game that MU won, 106-104, behind 53 points from Howard.
"(Referee) Bo Boroski had that game," McDermott said. "And I told him during the game 'I still haven't forgiven you for those .2 seconds you put back on the clock in that game.' So it's still in my mind.
"But you do this long enough, you're going to be on both ends of these kinds of things."
The Golden Eagles rallied from a 17-point deficit in the second half Saturday. Creighton had MU on the ropes after making three straight three-pointers from almost the exact spot in front of its bench to start the second half.
Smart pulled all five starters after a timeout and the reserves jolted MU out of its sluggishness.
"I thought those guys came in and gave us some real spirit and energy," Smart said. "And then I thought when the starters went back in they played with much better fight and energy and spirit defensively in the second half."
MU got its biggest spark down the stretch of regulation by going to pick-and-rolls with Kolek (11 points, six assists, six rebounds) as the ball-handler and Oso Ighodaro (22 points) as the screen-setter.
"It's easy playing with Tyler, he's very unselfish," Ighodaro said. "And he knows where to get you the ball. It doesn't take much to get chemistry with him."
Ighodaro set another collegiate high after scoring 14 points against Jackson State on Nov. 30. He also battled Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner, who scored a team-high 20 points.
"He had a good game early," Ighodaro said. "We weren't doing a good job giving him a tough look. He was catching it too deep. Toward the end of the game we did a much better job."
Still Ighodaro was frustrated by not being able to close out the victory.
"We just got to clean up the little stuff throughout the game," Ighodaro said. "Boxing out. Just getting stops on defense. Every little thing adds up and it can change the game at the end of the game."
MU hadn't played since a 78-70 loss to Connecticut on Dec. 21. The Golden Eagles' game at St. John's on Wednesday was canceled due to COVID-19 issues with the Red Storm.
MU is dealing with COVID issues of its own. The Golden Eagles got graduate transfer Darryl Morsell (13 points) back after missing the game against Connecticut in the health and safety protocols, but MU freshman guard Kam Jones had to sit out the loss to Creighton in the protocols. Jones had started the last six games.
"Not just Kam, but we had another player that couldn't practice this week because he was dealing with some stuff," Smart said. "And then Darryl came back yesterday.
"It's really the times we're in. It's something that everyone is having to deal with. You just want guys to be ready to step forward and help their team. I feel really, really bad for Kam. And last game for Darryl. Literally having to watch their teammates and their team on TV. I'm sure Kam is sitting there saying I could help out there."
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Marquette loses to Creighton 75-69 at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee