As the saying goes, it was like déjà vu all over again. On Wednesday night, the Marquette Golden Eagles fell at the hands of the St. John's Red Storm 60-57 after blowing another second half lead on the road. The Golden Eagles are yet to win a true road game, and the loss drops them to 10-8 (2-4 Big East).
Tonight truly did feel like every other road game they've played in the Big East; great defense and terrific hustle get them off to a great start and a nice lead which is blown in the second half. At the moment, it seems as if this will be a season of "almosts" for the Golden Eagles. This is yet another winnable game that they let get away, and when we add up the amount of winnable games they've lost this season, the record could look something like 15-3.
However, the failure to hold on to leads is not the fault of anyone in the current Marquette administration. Former head coach Buzz Williams decided against really recruiting last term, and after he announced his departure to Virginia Tech the Golden Eagles had only one true freshman on the roster.
While Sandy Cohen has been a welcome addition to the team, it is nigh on impossible to play a high intensity, pressing 1-3-1 system with only eight scholarship players. It does now just feel as if it will not be until next season that we truly see which direction Marquette will take under new head coach Steve Wojciechowski.
However, we will not know until next season and we are of course in the midst of the 2014-15 season. Unfortunately for Marquette, there are several more games to go this season and tonight we saw exactly why they struggle.
As has been their norm in the Big East, the Golden Eagles played hard and competitive throughout and only trailed by two points at the half. The opening 20 minutes was a seesaw affair, and neither team held a lead of more than eight points.
However, it was the Johnnies who began as the far better side and they did jump out to a 17-9 lead after 10 minutes. In spite of regular leading scorer D'Angelo Harrison struggling, it was up to Sir'Dominic Pointer and Rysheed Jordan to take up the mantle.
They did just that early on, and combined for eight of those first 17 points in addition to poppin up all over the court to help out their teammates. Yet, in spite of all of its disadvantages, this Marquette team doesn't go away. They grew into the game, and a 10-2 run punctuated by a posterizing dunk from Jajuan Johnson knotted up the score.
Not surprisingly for the Golden Eagles, Matt Carlino was involved with the run just as he was involved with their scoring all day. The BYU transfer has quickly become their go-to scorer, and he delivered yet again on Wednesday when he led the way with 21 points.
Carlino came out after the break again keeping the Golden Eagles in the game. He seemed certain to repeat his tragic heroics of last Saturday against Xavier when he made three straight three-pointers to open up a 37-33 Golden Eagles lead.
Carlino then took a break from scoring to assist on a Steve Taylor layup, but after a further dunk from the big man Carlino went back to work and knocked down another deep ball, widening the advantage to 43-35. With 13 minutes remaining on the clock, it seemed a certainty that Marquette would kick on to win the game.
However, just as was the case on New Year's Eve at DePaul, it was at this moment in time that Marquette began to fade. Jordan and Pointer reeled off seven straight points to cut the lead to one, and a dunk from Chris Obekpa gave St. John's their first lead in over seven minutes.
It was at that moment in time that we saw another repeated motif of this Marquette season: a well-timed time out from Wojciechowski. He called time, and the Golden Eagles responded with a three-pointer from Cohen to go back up by two points.
From there on out, it was a seesaw battle between the two teams which never again saw a lead of more than three points. Some more clutch shooting from Jordan, Pointer, Cohen and Taylor kept the game close until the very final possession. However, after Marquette were unable to force any turnovers and in the end a desperation heave from Carlino could not pull the Golden Eagles level again, allowing St. John's to walk off the court as 60-57 winners.
The loss takes Marquette to 10-8 (2-4 Big East) and they will host Georgetown on Saturday. Meanwhile, the victory takes St. John's to 13-5 (2-4 Big East) and they will host Duke on Sunday in a nonconference showdown.