Recap: Marquette vs. Washington
Sports Network | March 19, 2010
San Jose, CA (Sports Network) - Quincy Pondexter's driving bank shot with 1.7 seconds remaining lifted Washington to a thrilling 80-78 win over Marquette in an East Region first-round game of the NCAA Tournament, capping a rough day of competition for Big East teams.
Pondexter, who had 18 points and 11 rebounds, dribbled to his left, past Marquette forward Jimmy Butler and then leaned in for a double-clutch shot that fell. Lazar Hayward's heave from center court was off the mark and the Huskies (25-9) advanced to play Saturday against third seed New Mexico. The Lobos held off 14th-seeded Montana, 62-57.
Isaiah Thomas scored 19 and Elston Turner added 14 for the No. 11 seeded Huskies, who were coming off winning the Pac-10 tourney last weekend. It's the second straight year and fourth consecutive time Washington has made it to the second round. In 2009 the Huskies beat Mississippi State before losing to Purdue in round two.
"Our team didn't feel like it was an upset," Turner said. "We knew we were capable of going into the tournament. We won seven in a row, and 12 out of the last 14, and I think a lot of people doubted us and we took that to heart during practice. We had a meeting last night talking about we got to bring it and it's all 14 of us that have to play together in order to get the win. We just feel like we finally are clicking on all cylinders and playing the right way."
Hayward ended with 20 points and Darius Johnson-Odom tallied 19 for the sixth- seeded Golden Eagles (22-12), who blew a 15-point lead in the second half.
The Big East Conference went into the tournament with eight teams, but lost three on day one thanks to upsets and nearly a giant shocker in the afternoon. Georgetown, a No. 3 seed from the Midwest, was beaten by Ohio University, 97-83. Notre Dame, the sixth seed from the South, lost to Old Dominion, 51-50. Villanova, the second seed from the South, was on the ropes nearly the entire game before pulling out a 73-70 overtime triumph over pesky Robert Morris.
Washington's eighth straight victory came in incredible fashion, while Marquette faltered several times down the stretch and didn't have a field goal over the final 4 1/2 minutes.
"We weren't very strong with the basketball," Hayward said. "We weren't making smart plays. We let their pressure force us into things we shouldn't have done, and this time of the year there are always going to be runs like that, you have to withstand them. You have to take team's runs and you have to do what we were supposed to do well and we didn't do that at all. We let their pressure rattle us and they were able to execute in place."
The Golden Eagles had a great start to the second half, beginning it with a 17-3 flurry, expanding the lead to 60-45 with nearly 14 minutes left following back-to-back three-pointers from Hayward and Maurice Acker.
Pondexter and Turner then led the charge back for the Huskies. Pondexter had three baskets and Turner drained a pair of three-pointers during Washington's crucial run, which ended with a Pondexter layup for a 66-65 deficit inside seven minutes left.
The Huskies finally went ahead at 72-71 on a Turner three-ball inside 5 1/2 minutes to go.
Pondexter's tip-in off his own miss tied the game at 76 with under three minutes left, but Acker made a pair from the foul line.
Venoy Overton then hit two from the charity stripe, and Hayward missed a three-pointer. Turnovers by each team then set up the winning possession. Matthew Bryan-Amaning lost possession in the lane for Washington, and on a tie-up Marquette was awarded the ball. But Hayward threw the ball away, giving the Huskies a last chance.
Thomas missed a three-ball from deep, but Pondexter tracked down the long rebound before winning the game.
"Clear-outs have been called a lot of times down the stretch in games a lot of times for myself and sometimes Isaiah, to attack the basket," Pondexter said. "That last shot was nothing of a call. We read the situation. We had a second chance, and the time was running down and the ball went in."
"We knew he was going to come out firing," Marquette coach Buzz Williams said. "He shot 1-for-7 in the first half. Jimmy did a great job on him. He did a great job on him throughout the game. We weren't playing well and weren't helping him real well, we weren't in gaps and we can't let one defender play -- we can't let one guy guard him."
It was tight throughout the entire first half with neither team leading by more than five.
Pondexter played in his 134th career game on Thursday surpassing Justin Dentmon for most all-time in school history...Thomas had eight assists...David Cubillan scored 14 and Acker 13 for Marquette, which shot 52.9 percent from the field. That included a stellar 12-of-19 showing from beyond the arc.
