GameCap - March 1 at Louisville
Sorry I haven't posted in a while, I've been a little busy.
On a night in which Rick Pitino had his team make a point of shutting down Steve Novak, Marquette lost a game in OT that they were never really in. The Golden Eagles (19-9, 9-6 Big East) had trouble finding their shots without Novak and played sluggishly for most of the contest. Marquette shot an anemic 33.8% from the field and put up their second lowest offensive output of the season in a 67-60 loss.
Despite being keyed on by the Cardinals defense all night, Novak managed to put up 20 points, but it was a quiet 20. He shot 8-17 from the floor but came up just shy of a double-double with 9 boards. It seemed as though the offense was lost without Steve taking care of things, as most possessions involved Dominic James dribbling the ball just inside half-court and winding down the clock until someone put up a poor shot. The Eagles started off slowly, quickly finding themselves down twleve before cutting the lead to two at 21-19. Louisville would go on another run however, pushing the lead back to 10 before Marquette could cut it down to five at the half. The play continued similarly in the second half, with the Golden Eagles tying it at 47 on a Steve Novak 3 on which he was fouled, setting up a four point play. Unfortunately, Steve missed just his second free throw of the season to leave it tied. Marquette would not score again for another 4:30.
Tom Crean was clearly outcoached by the Cardinals Rick Pitino. Louisville's gameplan from the beginning was to shut down Steve Novak, and they did just that. After that, Marquette seemed content to let the shot clock wind down and then take a poor shot on almost every possession. No one moved without the ball (this has been a problem all season, but it seemed especially prevalent tonight) it seemed as though there were no designed plays. Even while trailing by large deficits, the Golden Eagles waited for long periods of time only to settle for poor shots. Also, Louisville continually found ways to get open shots against the Marquette zone defense. Tom Crean failed to adjust to either of these things and it contributed heavily to the loss.
Near the end of the second half, things looked dire for the Golden Eagles. They had the ball down three with about 30 seconds to go, but seemed content to wait for the last shot. They held the ball until taking a timeout with about 17 left on the clock. Coming out of the timeout, Dominic James took a poor 3 point shot and sent the ball back to the Cardinals. After a foul, the game appeared as though it would end on the free throw line. After two misses, Marquette missed a golden opportunity by failing to get the rebound. Fortunately, Louisville lost it out of bounds to give the Golden Eagles the ball back with just over 3 seconds on the clock. The ball was inbounded to James who dribbled it up the court and hit a running 3 point shot to beat the buzzer and send it to OT. Unfortunately, Marquette came out flat in OT, managing to score just two points in the five minute period on their way to a seven point loss.
This loss stings, with the biggest loss being the likely end to Marquette's first round bye in the Big East tournament. It likely will not hurt their NCAA chances, other than perhaps dropping them one seed from a 5 to a 6, which could actually be a blessing since 5 seeds have an odd habit of losing to the 12 seeds. The Golden Eagles will have to bring it on Saturday against Providence, as a win on Senior Day would be key for momentum.
On a night in which Rick Pitino had his team make a point of shutting down Steve Novak, Marquette lost a game in OT that they were never really in. The Golden Eagles (19-9, 9-6 Big East) had trouble finding their shots without Novak and played sluggishly for most of the contest. Marquette shot an anemic 33.8% from the field and put up their second lowest offensive output of the season in a 67-60 loss.
Despite being keyed on by the Cardinals defense all night, Novak managed to put up 20 points, but it was a quiet 20. He shot 8-17 from the floor but came up just shy of a double-double with 9 boards. It seemed as though the offense was lost without Steve taking care of things, as most possessions involved Dominic James dribbling the ball just inside half-court and winding down the clock until someone put up a poor shot. The Eagles started off slowly, quickly finding themselves down twleve before cutting the lead to two at 21-19. Louisville would go on another run however, pushing the lead back to 10 before Marquette could cut it down to five at the half. The play continued similarly in the second half, with the Golden Eagles tying it at 47 on a Steve Novak 3 on which he was fouled, setting up a four point play. Unfortunately, Steve missed just his second free throw of the season to leave it tied. Marquette would not score again for another 4:30.
Tom Crean was clearly outcoached by the Cardinals Rick Pitino. Louisville's gameplan from the beginning was to shut down Steve Novak, and they did just that. After that, Marquette seemed content to let the shot clock wind down and then take a poor shot on almost every possession. No one moved without the ball (this has been a problem all season, but it seemed especially prevalent tonight) it seemed as though there were no designed plays. Even while trailing by large deficits, the Golden Eagles waited for long periods of time only to settle for poor shots. Also, Louisville continually found ways to get open shots against the Marquette zone defense. Tom Crean failed to adjust to either of these things and it contributed heavily to the loss.
Near the end of the second half, things looked dire for the Golden Eagles. They had the ball down three with about 30 seconds to go, but seemed content to wait for the last shot. They held the ball until taking a timeout with about 17 left on the clock. Coming out of the timeout, Dominic James took a poor 3 point shot and sent the ball back to the Cardinals. After a foul, the game appeared as though it would end on the free throw line. After two misses, Marquette missed a golden opportunity by failing to get the rebound. Fortunately, Louisville lost it out of bounds to give the Golden Eagles the ball back with just over 3 seconds on the clock. The ball was inbounded to James who dribbled it up the court and hit a running 3 point shot to beat the buzzer and send it to OT. Unfortunately, Marquette came out flat in OT, managing to score just two points in the five minute period on their way to a seven point loss.
This loss stings, with the biggest loss being the likely end to Marquette's first round bye in the Big East tournament. It likely will not hurt their NCAA chances, other than perhaps dropping them one seed from a 5 to a 6, which could actually be a blessing since 5 seeds have an odd habit of losing to the 12 seeds. The Golden Eagles will have to bring it on Saturday against Providence, as a win on Senior Day would be key for momentum.
posted by Rob Stack @ 10:14 PM
1 Comments:
At 11:54 PM,
TB said…
nice blog. not sure about this statement though:
"Tom Crean was clearly outcoached by the Cardinals Rick Pitino. Louisville's gameplan from the beginning was to shut down Steve Novak, and they did just that."
Novak finished with 20 pts and 9 boards......on roughly 48% shooting (noticeably better than his seasonal FG% average).
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