Marquette Postgame Links

A quick take on St. John's 80-68 victory over Marquette on Tuesday night at the Bradley Center in Miwaukee, Wisc.

WHAT IT MEANS: An at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament is looking more and more like a lock. St. John’s won its third straight game to improve to 16-9 overall and 8-5 in Big East play (4-3 road). The Johnnies, who are 5-1 in their last six games, need to go just 1-4 in their last five regular season games to finish .500 in the conference. Marquette (15-11, 6-7) dropped to 1-3 in its last four.

TURNING POINT: When Red Storm coach Steve Lavin called a 30-second timeout at the 16:46 mark after his team surrendered the first seven points of the second half. The Johnnies responded from there, countering with a 9-1 run to take a one-point lead. The key was their ability to get into the paint and finish either emphatically -- like Justin Brownlee with a one-handed dunk; or acrobatically -- like Dwight Hardy's flip shot that turned into a three-point play. St. John’s eventually pulled away with a 9-0 run midway through the second half to take its largest lead, 62-52, with 8:39 remaining. D.J. Kennedy had the final six points of the spurt, with four of those coming in transition. The Johnnies eventually led by as many as 13.
http://espn.go.com/blog/new-yorkcolleges/post/_/id/1661/rapid-reaction-st-johns-80-marquette-68

Dwight Hardy scored a game-high 28 points, sinking 12-of-15 free throws, as St. John's earned its third consecutive Big East victory with an 80-68 win over host Marquette.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/2011/02/15/2011-02-15_dwight_hardys_28_points_carry_st_johns_to_third_straight_win_an_8068_victory_ove.html#ixzz1E5x08REa

Dwight Hardy and St. John's approached this stretch of two games in three days just like the NCAA tournament. The Red Storm appear ready for the bright lights of March's biggest stage after this dress rehearsal.

Hardy scored 28 points and St. John's rallied in the second half to beat Marquette 80-68 last night, snapping an 11-game losing streak in the series.

"It's different because it's Sunday, Tuesday, but the quick turnaround time and having to play two high-level opponents in Cincinnati and Marquette gives you the opportunity to rehearse for NCAA tournament conditions," St. John's coach Steve Lavin said.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/college/basketball/perfect_storm_htzQSz527i9dnYzPYDazUJ#ixzz1E7uVnKz0

It certainly wasn't the way the Marquette Golden Eagles envisioned "Al's Night" playing out.

Unable to slow down reigning Big East player of the week Dwight Hardy, handle the press or solve the matchup zone defense, the Marquette Golden Eagles collapsed against St. John's in the second half en route to a disappointing 80-68 loss at the Bradley Center on Tuesday.

MU (15-11, 6-7 Big East) committed a season-high 18 turnovers in the loss, which was its second straight and first by double digits this season. Ten turnovers came in the second half, compared to zero over the final 20 minutes for the now-streaking Red Storm (16-9, 8-5).

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/goldeneagles/116278179.html

AP Story


Dwight Hardy, the reigning BIG EAST Player of the Week, scored a game-high 28 points and St. John's erased an early second half deficit to notch its third-straight win with a 80-68 triumph against Marquette at the Bradley Center.

D. J. Kennedy added 15 points, while Justin Burrell racked up his 10th career double-double with a 10-point, 12-rebound effort for St. John's (16-9, 8-5), which is now 8-5 in conference play for the first time since the 2000-01 season. The Red Storm also improved to 4-3 on the road in BIG EAST play and is 7-6 overall in games played away from home.

"I am really proud of our kids to be able to win two games in a three day stretch, which is very difficult to do in the BIG EAST," said head coach Steve Lavin. "Coming into this game we talked about it simulating NCAA tournament conditions. The quick turnaround time and having to play two high quality opponents like Cincinnati and Marquette gives you the opportunity to rehearse for NCAA tournament conditions. I thought our players put together two consecutive games, and now, five out of six, where there was a sustained level of effort and degree of execution that was impressive. I was really pleased for our players."

http://www.redstormsports.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/021611aaa.html