Coming fresh off of a 40-point victory over Little Rock on Wednesday to put the team at 3-1, Marquette continued their four-game homestand on Saturday with a matinee against visiting Maryland(2-1) from the Big Ten. Further driving the excitement of having a non-conference matchup with the Terrapins is that they brought along with them former Marquette head coach Buzz Williams. Coach Buzz is in his first year with the Terrapins and had a decorated coaching career with Marquette (and a bit of a messy exit), where he went 139-69 from 2008-2014. Fans remembered his time in Milwaukee with a mix of boos and cheers when he was announced pregame, where he wasn’t the only buzz in the building ahead of tip-off.
Both buzzes carried over into the game in one of the most intense first halves the Golden Eagles, and Fiserv Forum, have seen so far this season. Marquette was once again without starting point guard Sean Jones due to a lingering shoulder issue, and there was plenty of talk about Maryland’s standout Texas A&M transfer Pharrel Payne (20 pts/8 reb per game) being too much for Marquette to handle inside.
Maryland couldn’t miss early, hitting their first four shots from behind the arc, jumping out to a 13-point lead. Special attention to Payne inside freed up Maryland’s David Coit, who took advantage and delivered 15 first-half points, including four threes. It didn’t last for long, however, as Marquette, mostly behind the contributions of senior Chase Ross and his 16 first-half points, carried the crowd and battled right back into the game. For the first time this season we saw Marquette apply a consistent amount of full-court man-to-man pressure as an adjustment to Maryland’s early lead. By forcing a handful of turnovers and shortening the shot clock (and fantastic offensive rebounding), Marquette was able to even the score at the break, 42-42.
After an emotional halftime ceremony where former Marquette great Jerel McNeal had his jersey retired to the rafters in Fiserv Forum, Marquette continued their relentless pace of pressure and rebounding, extending their lead to as high as 9. Unfortunately for Marquette and a certain Maryland powerhouse, the game would shift at a very specific moment. At around 12 minutes left in the game, Maryland’s Pharrel Payne would beat two Marquette defenders inside for a violent dunk. After enthusiastically hanging on the rim, Payne came awkwardly down to the floor, losing his footing and painfully putting him into a splits of sorts. Payne could be heard screaming in pain as he held his right hip to an arena full of gasps. As gruesome as the injury was, this was a turning point for the Terrapins, and they would fully rally.
Maryland would outscore Marquette 38-24 in the final 12 minutes. The way the momentum, the injury, and the deficit were all against Maryland, no one saw the game shifting the way that it did. And from a completely balanced effort too. Those 38 points were almost evenly distributed between six Maryland players, as Marquette lost both their scoring touch, the lead, and ultimately, a win.
In a fantastic game that was tarnished by a gruesome injury and a late comeback, Marquette had to endure a disappointing second loss of the season. Chase Ross and his career-high 31 points, the best rebounding performance in years, and the exciting improvement of freshman Nigel James Jr., these are all things that looked REALLY great on Saturday. However, Marquette will have to continue to show consistency around these things for a full forty minutes in order to secure wins in games like these moving forward.
Knuckleball Prime Time Player of the Game
*Marquette continues its homestand on Wednesday, when they host Dayton out of the Atlantic 10 Conference at Fiserv Forum at 6:30pm CST on truTV.
The Barn 