On February 20 of last season, nearly a year from the date of Tuesday night’s rematch in Omaha between Marquette And CreightonShaka is smart and Tyler Kolek had a heart to heart conversation.
Kolek, in his first year with the Golden Eagles program, played only 15 minutes and was out of the game in the final stretch of the Creighton 83-82 win. Bluejays is moving in one direction towards March while Marquette is heading in the opposite direction.
Smart told FOX Sports: “He was mad at me because he didn’t give his best, and we were both angry because we lost. “It was a game similar to tonight where we had a late lead, but unlike tonight we didn’t take home. After that game, I decided that Tyler Kolek would never be absent. He’s been in another game in place of Marquette for a long time. 365 days, he’s become a much more confident attacking player.”
And 365 days later, Marquette was firmly at the wheel of Big East regular season title race after a win 73-71 through Creighton in front of more than 18,000 fans at CHI Omaha Medical Center. Kolek was the reason to close the win, pushing the Golden Eagles to 14-3 in the Big East – up two in the win column and one up in the losing column.
When the game drew at 67 with 1:19 to play, Kolek crossed his lane and hit a tough runner to give the Golden Eagles the lead. After Creighton balances it on a pair Ryan Nembhard free throw, Kolek got the ball again, dashing off the screen and letting a tear fly through the nylon, silenced the crowd once more. He was an online game killer, making plays that honored the Big East’s player of the year and sent home fans off the field with a sour taste in their mouths.
“I love playing with the crowd,” says Kolek. “I left the game with an offensive foul and one of those guys yelled at me, ‘This isn’t football! Sit down!’ and all.
Highlights: Kam Jones lifts Marquette by 19 points
Kam Jones scored 19 points in No 10 Marquette’s spectacular comeback win over No 16 Creighton.
Faced with a 40-32 deficit at halftime on Tuesday night, the Golden Eagles were undeterred. They showed the poise it took to win the conference’s regular season championship, and demonstrated the fact that when this team is beaten, it’s not the old Marquette anymore. They’ll throw it right back.
Marquette started the second half 8-0 to pull even 40 points each. Of course, the host Jays responded and took the lead with a 53-50 score when the clock hit 12:09. What followed was a game-changing, season-changing surge for the Golden Eagles. But on this night, it wasn’t the nation’s third most effective offense creating the run. Instead, Marquette broke the clamps defensively, holding Creighton for more than six minutes and taking the lead 63-53 with six minutes left.
“We just have more in the tank,” says Kolek. “We just had to buckle up and really protect them, then get to where we wanted to attack. We didn’t make the shots we wanted in the first half, so we had to flip. the opposite of that.”
The Golden Eagles turned the game around with a 52% shot rate in the final 20 minutes with Kolek, Oso Ighodaro And Kam Jones combine to make 36 of the team’s 41 points in the final bracket.
“We’re just digging into this game,” Smart said. “We keep talking in group chats that we have more of us and we can pull our own. These Big East matches are battles and they’re not perfect. Yes. a lot of mistakes by both teams, but that’s the nature of playing at this level.Our boys are ready to dig deep and fight.We had a great duel and we did. good job getting Creighton to go to the next pick.”
The Golden Eagles forced Creighton to switch nine times in the second half, and none of the Jays had more than eight points. Start with four people Arthur Kaluma was held to a goalless draw.
It was as impressive a performance as any Marquette had in the conference game, generating an eighth win of the show’s nine games and leading the Golden Eagles to a 22-6 record. Well, 22-6… for a team picked third to last in the Big East pre-season poll.
The official convention’s formula for winning the regular-season title is particularly interesting considering the fact that Marquette’s pivotal season didn’t come with a massive transfer like Creighton’s has come. Baylor Scheierman. It’s not the top recruiting class in the Big East or a five-star talent pool.
Instead, it comes down to relationships, the core of Smart’s belief system, a system that has the potential to do better in Marquette than at his previous stop — Texas – where more emphasis is placed on “glitzy”.
[Shaka Smart and Marquette: The perfect fit at the perfect time]
Smart said: “I would never prioritize a player who has never worn a Marquette uniform over someone who has. “This win is a testament to the toughness our boys have internally and how they feel about each other. You don’t come here and win and win unless you feel very, very much. strong on others of the same color. That being said, it’s like a testament to who we are if we go back to the next game and the next training session, and at the same time keep building. This can’t be the be all, end-all for what we do.”
With a 14-3 scoreline in the conference game, the Golden Eagles made it to the finals featuring three of the bottom four teams in the Big East rankings: DePaulIn Butler And Saint John. While they still have to officially wrap up the convention, Tuesday could be an important step towards the show’s fifth season championship.
As for Creighton, the Bluejays will be fine, and it will be interesting if these two teams meet again at Madison Square Garden. Greg McDermott’s team still won nine of their last 11 games, but on Tuesday a failure to take shots in the first half left Marquette within a single-digit range and impressive distance. Combine that with an uneventful start to the second half, and the Jays were without their A game, especially in attack, while swinging the ball more than 15 times. They don’t have time to be moody as McDermott’s team faces a tough road test on Saturday (Noon ET on FOX) In Villanova in the rematch of last year’s Big East Tournament championship match.
The Wildcats sent out a message Tuesday night that they could be bid steals at the convention tournament in Madison Square Garden in two weeks. Why? Justin Moore Found my game. He took 25 points on Tuesday, lifting the Wildcats to a 64-63 win first Xavier. It was the Musketeers’ first home loss in the Big East of the season. Suddenly, Kyle Neptune’s team won four of the last five games.
But on Tuesday, the story was that with Marquette, Smart looked like a threat to March Madness, just as he did when he led VCU to the 2012 Finals.
What did Marquette show to the world of college hoops on Tuesday night?
“How connected we are. How tough we are. How much we want to play for each other,” said Kolek.
It all started with Smart, who built a show in his image, showcasing all of its strengths to take home a trophy earlier than expected in Milwaukee.
John Fanta is the national college basketball broadcaster and writer for FOX Sports. He covers the sport in a variety of capacities, from calling games on FS1 to being a main presenter on the BIG EAST Digital Network to providing commentary on The Field of 68 Media Network. Follow him on Twitter at @John_Fanta.
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