Greg Elliott's free throw with 1.8 seconds left made the difference as host Marquette squeaked out a 73-72 win over No. 20 Seton Hall on Saturday in Big East play at Milwaukee.
Elliott attempted a jumper in the final seconds and leaned into Seton Hall's Bryce Aiken to draw a shooting foul. Elliott's elbow hit Aiken's nose on the play, but the officiating crew upheld its call upon review, which incensed Pirates coach Kevin Willard. Elliott made one of two shots and Seton Hall could not heave up a game-winning attempt in time.
Darryl Morsell poured in 26 points to match a career high and lead Marquette (12-6, 4-3 Big East), which won its fourth straight game. Morsell made 8 of 12 shots, including 4 of 5 3-pointers. Justin Lewis chipped in with 18 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Aiken had a season-high 28 points on 9-of-15 shooting and 5 of 8 from long range for the Pirates (11-5, 2-4). Alexis Yetna posted 15 points and 16 boards and Jared Rhoden added 12 points for Seton Hall.
Elliott hit a 3-pointer to tie the game 70-70 with 1:24 on the clock, and Lewis got a jumper to fall off the back of the rim to put Marquette up by two. Aiken's two free throws tied it again with 31 seconds left to set up the game-ending sequence.
Marquette sank five of its first seven 3-point tries to leap out to a 19-10 lead eight minutes into the game. Jones knocked down two treys on consecutive possessions to lead the way.
An Aiken 3-pointer brought Seton Hall within four with 8:47 left before halftime, but the Golden Eagles kept making their shots. A David Joplin bomb followed by two free throws from Morsell established a 44-33 lead with 1:49 left.
Aiken powered a late 8-0 run to cut it to 44-41 Marquette at halftime. Aiken finished the first half with 17 points on 6-of-6 shooting from the floor, 4-of-4 shooting from 3-point distance and making his lone attempt from the foul line. His Marquette counterpart, Morsell, scored 15 in the half on 5-of-5 shooting overall, 3-of-3 from deep and 2-of-2 at the stripe.
The Golden Eagles led 50-46 early in the second half when Yetna knocked down a 3 to spark a 9-0 Seton Hall run, handing the Pirates their largest lead of the game at 55-50. The teams traded baskets until Morsell's dunk tied it 65 with 4:10 to go.
Less than a minute later, Morsell blocked a Yetna shot and converted a layup at the other end to push Marquette ahead once more.
--Field Level Media
Seton Hall | Marquette | |
Bryce Aiken 28 | Scoring | Darryl Morsell 26 |
Kadary Richmond 3 | Assists | Tyler Kolek 7 |
Alexis Yetna 16 | Rebounds | Kur Kuath 6 |
Myles Cale 7 | Free Throws Made | Darryl Morsell 6 |
Bryce Aiken 2 | Steals | Justin Lewis 3 |
Ike Obiagu 7 | Blocks | Oso Ighodaro 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Seton Hall | 72 | 41.7 | 6-21 | 16-23 | 6 | 45 | 8 | 5 | 20 |
Marquette | 73 | 42.4 | 11-22 | 12-16 | 19 | 26 | 5 | 11 | 10 |