Mustangs Fall Flat Against DeSmet

Coming off a near six-year losing streak-breaking win against Lafayette the night before, Marquette found itself in prime position to achieve another feat the program could hang its hat on:  a first-ever appearance in the Meramec Holiday Festival semi-finals.  After playing a solid first quarter of basketball, the bottom dropped out as DeSmet took total control of the game and the ticket to the semis with a 46-28 win.

The aforementioned first period was an effective one for MHS.  After grabbing an offensive board against the much bigger Spartans, Marquette couldn't convert on its first trip down the floor which ended with two missed treys and an errant shot from the paint.  After two more misses, Karlos Washington got things going with a three-pointer to give his team a 3-2 lead.  Andy Rosburg followed up with a post conversion.  Will Carpenter chipped in with another three-pointer and Rosburg twice more took the ball to the hole with authority including a buzzer-beater to give the Mustangs a 12-8 lead after one quarter. 

After the opening flurry of missed shots, Marquette nailed five of eight tries from the field to wrap up the first period.  At that point though, the lid was placed on the MHS bucket and securely sealed until game's end.  A first quarter that saw zero Marquette turnovers became a second quarter which featured four unforced Mustang errors.  Marquette shot 1/7 from the floor in the second stanza (a Will Jones offensive putback) along with two free throws.  The anemic effort from the field still saw the slow-paced game tied at the half 16-all.

In the third, DeSmet opened the scoring with a bucket which was answered by Will Carpenter's second three-pointer of the evening.  After Tom Ahlborn nailed a jumper, Marquette found itself up 23-18 and seemingly on the way to a competitive run to the tournament's final four.  For the remainder of the contest though, the Mustangs put up 19 total attempts from the field.  A grand total of TWO found twine.  This arid stretch included misses on the team's last NINE field goal tries.  If that wasn't enough, the poorest performance from an effort-standpoint only made things worse.  A game that was there for the taking early in the third quarter became a rout as DeSmet extended their 33-23 third quarter lead to the final 18-point margin.  In one of the worst offensive performances in seasons, the Mustangs shot 10/42 from the floor (23.8%) including 3/18 from beyond the arc (16.7%).

With the loss, Marquette moves into Meramec's fourth place bracket.  Tomorrow's game (December 29) tips off at 3pm against conference foe Kirkwood.

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Posted by: marquettemustangs

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