Fifth-seeded Marquette will take on fourth seed Villanova this afternoon in a repeat of last year’s Big East quarterfinal, which Villanova won, 76-75.
The Golden Eagles escaped from their second round matchup with 13th seed St. John’s, 57-55, on Tuesday.
After 12 of their past 19 games were decided by three points or less, including four in overtime, Marquette is plenty used to being in pressure situations late in games.
“We’re starting to learn how to play in close games,” senior forward Lazar Heyward said. “We definitely understand the value of our possessions … hopefully that will translate to the NCAA tournament.”
Last season, Marquette (21-10) was led by a trio of seniors in Dominic James, Wesley Matthews and Jerel McNeal. But with their combined 49 points per game graduating, the Golden Eagles were picked to finish 12th in the Big East this season.
But down the stretch in yesterday’s win over St. John’s it was another trio of seniors – Heyward and guards Maurice Acker and David Cubillian – who led the way for Marquette. Cubillian hit the 3-pointer off an Acker assist with 1:10 remaining to put Marquette ahead for good, and Heyward followed that with a pair of free throws to ice the game.
“Regardless of the locale, and no disrespect to the Big East, I’d play with these guys in the street anywhere in the country, and I hope it will last as long as it can last,” Marquette coach Buzz Williams said of his three seniors. “Whether it’s a one-possession game or a 10-possession game, I absolutely love who these guys are as human beings.
“I think we’ll get good players (at Marquette), but I don’t know that we’ll get as good a person as each of these young men are, coupled with who they are as players.”
Though Marquette lost several key players from that matchup with Villanova last season, the Wildcats (24-6) brought nearly everyone back, including first-team All-Big East performer Scottie Reynolds. In looking ahead to the game, a rematch of Villanova’s 78-76 win over the Golden Eagles in Philadelphia Jan. 9, Williams acknowledged the challenge his team was facing.
“I think Villanova is a Final Four team that returns eight of their best players from last year,” he said. “They had a top-five recruiting class. They have a Final Four head coach early in his career, (and) he’ll be a Hall of Fame coach long before he ever comes close to retiring. They have three NBA players on their team, for sure.
“We’ll have our hands full. They haven’t played since Saturday, and you just saw how hard we had to play just to escape (against St. John’s). We’ll have to do the best job we can over the next 22 hours to get ready to play.”