It's been a long time coming, but the Marquette Golden Eagles and first year head coach Steve Wojciechowski finally know what a true road victory feels like. It may have taken 23 games, but with their 57-54 victory over the Seton Hall Pirates on Saturday the Golden Eagles picked up their first road victory of the season and snapped a six game losing streak.
Coming into the game, even the most die hard Marquette fan would not have been predicting a victory in this game. These two teams met 10 days ago, and a second half scoring spurt from Seton Hall gave them a comprehensive victory. Going beyond that, Marquette's leading scorer Matt Carlino missed this afternoon's game with a concussion sustained in the midweek shellacking the Golden Eagles received at Villanova.
However, players such as Steve Taylor, Jajuan Johnson, Juan Anderson, Duane Wilson and Luke Fischer stepped up. Johnson and Taylor have been inconsistent scorers all season long, but were joint leading scorers for Marquette on Saturday, scoring 14 points each. Fischer was the only other Golden Eagle in double figures, as he added 10 points. Finally, Anderson and Wilson rounded out Marquette's scoring punch, each adding nine points.
On the other side of the court, the scoring burden was carried by Sterling Gibbs and Jaren Sina. They were the only two Pirates in double figures, and Gibbs nearly repeated his scoring feats of the first encounter. In that one, he had only five points in the first half and finished with 24, grabbing the game by the scruff of its neck and single-handedly changing the game. On Saturday, 13 of his 16 points came in the second period but he didn't have quite the same game-changing effect.
The game itself played out in much the same fashion as many other Marquette games have this season. They came out of the gates playing superb defense, and roared out to a great start. Marquette moved the ball wonderfully, and five Golden Eagles scored in the opening eight minutes of the game as they opened up a 17-4 lead.
It momentarily looked as if we could have a blow out on our hands. However, this veteran Seton Hall team refused to go away. They managed to not only stay within touching distance but cut the lead to six points at one point in the first half before Marquette took a 30-22 advantage into the locker rooms.
Yet, in the second half Marquette again looked as if they would pull away. Seton Hall immediately cut the lead to five, but from there Marquette ripped off a 19-9 run, taking a 51-38 lead. When Duane Wilson scored, making it a 51-38 lead for the Golden Eagles with under six minutes left, it seemed the game was over.
Unfortunately for them, one of this season's repeated motifs has been an inability to hold a second half lead. In particular, they've shown a penchant for blowing double digit leads in the second half. They came desperately close to doing so yet again on Saturday.
A combination of scoring from Khadeen Carrington, Desi Rodriguez, Brandon Mobley, Gibbs and Sina brought the game back to life. They led Seton Hall on a 16-4 run, and cut the deficit to just 55-54 with 1:23 remaining on the clock. The Pirates even had chances to win the game, as Sina missed two open jumpers which would have given them a lead and Gibbs missed a three-pointer just before the buzzer which would have tied the game.
In the end, it was a first win in seven for the Golden Eagles and a first true road victory of the season. The victory takes Marquette to 11-12 (3-8 Big East) and they will host Xavier on Tuesday night. The loss takes Seton Hall to 15-8 (5-6 Big East) and they will host Georgetown on Tuesday night.