Marquette plays spoiler by holding off No. 4 UConn
Ben Gold prevented Silas DeMary Jr. from hitting a game-tying basket with two seconds remaining and Marquette ended a difficult regular season by holding on for a 68-62 victory over No. 4 UConn Saturday afternoon in Milwaukee.
Nigel James Jr. led the Golden Eagles (12-19, 7-13 Big East) with 19 points before Gold made the defensive play of the game and prevented the Huskies from getting a share of the Big East regular season title.
Marquette held a 61-49 lead with 5:26 left when Chase Ross hit 3s on consecutive possessions. The Golden Eagles were outscored 13-2 over the next four-plus minutes as the Huskies made it a two-point game following two free throws by Tarris Reed Jr.
After the free throws, James missed a jumper with 14 seconds left and Jayden Ross seized the defensive rebound. DeMary moved the ball up the floor and entered the paint, but he was met by Gold who contested the jumper and was not called for a foul.
The no-call angered UConn coach Danny Hurley, who was tossed by referee John Gaffney, and Ross hit four free throws with one second left to finish it.
Ross added 14 points for the Golden Eagles, who head into the Big East tournament with three wins in four games. Royce Parham added eight of his 13 when Marquette regained the lead midway through the second half and freshman Adrien Stevens kept the Golden Eagles afloat by scoring seven of his 11 late in the first half following an eight-point deficit.
DeMary led the Huskies (27-4, 17-3) with 17 and Reed added 16 but the Huskies endured a woeful shooting day, finishing at 35.6%. UConn also made just 3 of 24 three-pointers as Braylon Mullins and Alex Karaban were a combined 1 of 15 from behind the arc and 4 of 21 overall.
UConn capitalized on James getting his second foul and opened a 31-23 lead on two free throws by Ross with 2:59 left in the first half but the Huskies settled for a 35-33 lead by halftime after James hit a long jumper with two seconds left.
Parham scored eight straight points in a span of 80 seconds with two 3s and a nifty layup for a 49-45 lead with 13:25 left. The Golden Eagles took a 55-47 lead when James hit an open corner 3 with 9:57 left and Ross hit 3s on consecutive possessions for a 61-49 cushion with 5:26 remaining.
Following two free throws by DeMary, Gold turned an offensive rebound into a putback dunk for a 64-56 lead with 2:55 left. Ross hit a jumper after getting an offensive board to cut the lead to 64-60 with 82 seconds left to set up the dramatic finish.