• Marquette's Cardiac Kids Do It Again

    Wow. Did you see that? What was that? You can sum up Marquette's thrilling 59-58 comeback win and offer sympathy to the Davidson fans with one scene from Tommy Boy.

    "I swear I have seen a lot of stuff in my life, but THAT.....WAS....AWESOME!......Sorry about your car man."



    Marquette trailed almost the entire game, and all looked lost when they went down nine points in the closing minutes. But the Golden Eagles, who had only one three point basket the entire game, made three in the final 1:02 to close the gap to one point (two by Jamil Wilson 14 points, and one by Vander Blue 16 points). With intense full court pressure Marquette forced Davidson to turn the ball over, giving the Golden Eagles one last chance, with less than 7 seconds to play. With the officials reviewing the turnover to determine where the clock should be set, Buzz Williams was able to huddle the troops on the sidelines to draw up one last play, something Davidson coach Pete McKillop said was completely unfair. Well, unfair or not, Williams had his team spread the floor, paving the way for Vander Blue to attempt his second game winning shot in two weeks. Against St. John's, Blue drove to the right and laid it in to win the Big East Championship. Yesterday against Davidson Blue drove to his left and put it up with his left hand......




    ....and he did it again, this time to advance in the NCAA tournament. Can you believe that? Marquette outscored Davidson 11-4 in the final 1:02. That is simply unbelievable.

    The Golden Eagles didn't play their best game of the season, but they played the best 1:02 that they have ever played to finish the game. "Hang in there, hang in there, hang in there....throw good pitches." That is Buzz Williams for you, he and his band of brothers never give up, and you have got to respect that.

    Despite playing a rusty game, Blue with his game winning shot wasn't alone in with the heroics. Center Chris Otule, who has been playing the best stretch in his career finished the game with his first ever double double. Otule finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds on 4-5 shooting. He also blocked four shots which gives him a career total of 111, good for 6th on the all time list at Marquette.

    Another unsung hero of Thursday's game was senior Trent Lockett. Like Otule, Lockett pulled down 11 rebounds, giving him an average of 4.9 on the season, good enough to lead the team in that category.

    Now the Golden Eagles and the Marquette fans will try to catch their breath for their next matchup Saturday against Butler. We all remember facing Butler in the Maui Classic, where MU had control of the win until Rotnei Clarke hit a circus three point shot at the buzzer to upend the Golden Eagles, and that will make a great story line, but according to MU PR man Scott Kuyklendall, Marquette and Butler are no strangers to one another.....

    Marquette and Butler have met a total of 28 times in the all-time series, with each program claiming 14 victories. The series dates back to the 1922-23 campaign and saw MU claim nine-straight victories before Butler was able to claim wins in each of the last three matchups.

    Should be an interesting matchup for two future conference rivals as Butler will be joining Marquette in the Big east beginning next season.

    Overall keys to game....

    • Marquette was 4-15 from 3pt overall, but 3-3 in the final 1:02.
    • Marquette protected the ball and finished with only 9 turnovers, only one of which came from a PG (Cadougan 0, Wilson 1)
    • Coming into the game Davidson led the nation in free throw percentage with 80% (546-682), but only shot 63.6% yesterday (14-22).
    • Marquette out-rebounded the Wildcats 38-23.


    Parting shots.......


    • Marquette takes on Butler at approximately 6:45 on Saturday night on CBS.
    • For Steve "the Homer" True's call on Blue's last shot: Click Here
    • For the box score, Click Here
    • Marquette has not lost two games in a row all year per Buzz Williams......





    Marquette's Cardiac Kids Never Give Up, Buzz Williams has instilled that in them with the culture he has developed within the program.