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| Marquette was tenacious on both ends |
In years past Providence wanted to play at a breakneck pace. They weren't ready to play as fast as they had to, for as long as they were forced to, on Saturday night.
After flying up and down the court with a Marquette team that attacks you off of made baskets and turnovers alike, while harassing opponents with a versatile core of defenders, Providence faltered in the second half of a game they led heading into the locker room.
It's a trend so many Marquette games have followed this season.
As the Golden Eagles continued to attack into the second half, the Providence defense began to wilt. After the defense had been gutted by the pace Marquette set, the offense eventually followed.
Buzz Williams came out of the locker room cranky and his team came out firing at an even faster rate than they did in the first - and Providence was unable to respond.
After Bryce Cotton, who was marvelous all night for Providence, hit a difficult left handed layup 45 seconds into the half, Marquette quickly attacked off of the make, scoring just six seconds later. There were a total of two dribbles on the possession.
Cotton once again connected on a tricky layup on the next possession, and back came Marquette, getting into the paint within five seconds of the make, only this time Kadeem Batts drew a charge.
They converted a Gerard Coleman miss at the rim into a Darius Johnson-Odom layup in just three seconds on the following possession.
When LaDontae Henton scored on the next trip up the floor Marquette came right back, getting a shot in the paint three seconds into the shot clock and finishing on an offensive rebound immediately after.
And on it went. Make or miss, back came Marquette in a blur.
On pure stature, Marquette is a team that the Friars should match up well with. Aside from Davante Gardener they really don't have the size to exploit PC's frontcourt, but where they can expose Providence is with their depth. Marquette has a lot of it, Providence has none.
There's no better example than what happened on a night in which Cotton was at his best, knocking down tough jumpers and scoring in traffic on his way to 26 points, while Marquette star Johnson-Odom picked up his fourth foul at the 13:16 mark in a one point game.
Johnson-Odom, perhaps the best guard in the Big East, went to the bench for virtually the rest of the game (returning with under two minutes remaining), yet Marquette didn't skip a beat (on the road no less) getting big time contributions from a pair of newcomers in Todd Mayo and Jamil Wilson.
After Providence took a 55-54 lead with 12:34 to go, Mayo canned a three pointer and Wilson hit jump shots on their next three possessions. A fourth Wilson jumper at the 8:03 mark made it a seven point game and the Friars would not get any closer until they scrambled to six in the closing seconds.
As the Marquette youngsters stepped up, the Providence offense stalled. The game was tied 57 all with 11:50 remaining, but Providence was held to only one field goal over the next eight minutes of the game.
By the time Henton laid one in with just over three minutes left, Providence trailed by nine and the outcome was no longer in doubt.
For all of the talk about the need for Providence to get bigger, they also need to get deeper. As Marquette has consistently proven over the last few seasons, a team filled with interchangeable athletes can make for a tenacious, exhausting defense to face.
Marquette is now 16-4 on the season, and 5-2 in the Big East, with their tallest active player the 6'8, 290 pound Davante Gardner. He only plays 19 minutes per game. Beyond Gardner, the 6'7 Wilson is a 19 minute per game freshman and the only other player taller than 6'6.
You can be physical (see Jae Crowder) without being tall. Buzz Williams has built a roster short on length, but long on physical, bruising guards who are constantly in attack mode.
What they also have is a bruising small forward in Crowder and another long small forward developing in Wilson. The lengthy, tough, athletic small forward has been something that so many of the better Big East teams have featured recently, and it's been a serious deficiency around these parts of late. JaKarr Sampson anyone?
Williams' style of play allows his team to fall behind Providence 14-6, Louisville 18-2, and Pittsburgh 14-5, only to come back and win each time. His group is in constant attack mode, wears on their opponents and they are physical on both sides of the ball. The recent results have been a series of second half comeback wins. Longer term, it's a formula that's turned Marquette into a perennial top 25 team.
Being physical without being tall.
A Look Back on "What to Watch For"
In previewing the game I highlighted a few things to watch. Here's a look at how they broke down:
Slow Starts for Marquette. As mentioned on Friday, Williams' group has struggled to start, but has managed to overcome that during their recent winning streak. I did have questions about whether it would be as easy to dig themselves out of a hole on the road, but after trailing 14-6, they countered with a 20-5 run over the next five minutes to turn an eight point deficit into a nine point advantage.
Answered that question.
Johnson-Odom the model of consistency. The senior guard had scored at least 18 points in each of their Big East games, and hoisted nine three pointers in four of six, but foul trouble kept him on the bench for much of the second half.
He was certainly consistent on this night, scoring 18 points once again, on 3-3 from three.
Mayo developing into an important piece. I'd noted that Mayo had seen an increase in minutes recently, and came into the game third in scoring for the Golden Eagles. Well, his experience came in handy on a night in which they were without Johnson-Odom for a majority of the second half.
In 29 minutes Mayo hit a tide-turning three after Johnson-Odom went out with his fourth foul and ended up with 10 points and four assists. Prior to that he hit another huge tide turner, a three pointer to kick off the 20-5 run after a Marquette timeout.
More significantly than his offense, Mayo helped put the clamps on Cotton, who had torched Marquette throughout. Cotton was held to one field goal for a 17 minute span in the second half.
Gardner could be a matchup problem. I was doing so well too. Gardner was largely a non-factor in this one, especially in the first half when Kadeem Batts had 11 rebounds and the Friars had 14 offensive boards, but in fairness he did make some big plays late.
He scored five straight points, turning a 66-60 game to 71-60, as he was the only player on the floor to score for nearly four minutes. Who knows how this game turns if someone on Providence was able to score five straight during that span.
Pass the rock. Marquette came into this game first in the Big East and eighth in the nation in assists at 17.3 per game. That number will only continue to rise, as they dished out 21 assists, while only turning it over 12 times.
