MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Winning on the road in the Big East Conference means taking advantage of opportunities when they're presented. It means executing throughout, especially when the game's on the line.
Only one team took advantage of its opportunities and executed down the stretch on Sunday at Fiserv Forum, and it wasn't the Xavier Musketeers.
Xavier led Marquette 53-48 with 14:05 left in the game and the Golden Eagles outscored the Musketeers 27-11 over the rest of the game to win it, 75-64.
Xavier made its first six shots of the second half to take control of the game after trailing 33-29 at halftime, then the offense went colder than Milwaukee in January.
"When they went on their run in the second half, I thought we had a couple good looks," said Xavier head coach Travis Steele. "I think Paul (Scruggs) at the rim, had a wide-open layup. I think AK (Adam Kunkel) had a wide-open 3. Nate (Johnson) had a wide-open 3, shots that we will take all day long.
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"But what can't happen is when a couple of those good shots don't go in, you can't convert and then all of a sudden try to play hero basketball. Because I thought the rest of the way our guys were forcing things on the offensive end whether it was a shot or a drive that maybe wasn't there."
The Musketeers made three shots over the game's final 14 minutes and one of those was a Jack Nunge layup with 30 seconds left when the game was out of reach.
There were missed shots, empty possessions, turnovers and Marquette's defense gets some of the credit, but Xavier's inability to do anything resembling efficient offense down the stretch was the difference in the game.
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"I have a few clips in my mind, and it wasn't just one guy, that I thought, man, just weren't the right plays," said Steele. "And guys have good intentions on our team, they're not doing it from a selfish standpoint, they're just trying to make something happen to help us win, but you can't do that."
The offensive issues filtered down to the other end of the court and Marquette was able to drive it and convert, or get too many open looks on the perimeter, where the Golden Eagles went 10-for-26.
In a game that was really competitive for about 35 minutes, Marquette made the most of its opportunities, while Xavier squandered them.
Xavier shot 34% from the field in the second half. Marquette shot 53%. A big part of that was the Musketeers forcing their offense.
"You can't allow a couple shots, good shots, that don't go in to all of a sudden then effect your ability to make the right play," said Steele.
The last few games it's been the start that's hindered Xavier. On Sunday, it was the finish.
"You gotta execute your way out of trouble," said Steele. "When you force things on offense you look like a bad player, look like a bad team."
Paul Scruggs led Xavier with 13 points and seven rebounds, but he also had four costly turnovers. Colby Jones and Adam Kunkel each had 12 points.
Marquette's Justin Lewis and Darryl Morsell combined for 39 points.
Xavier falls to 14-4 overall and 4-3 in the Big East. Marquette's now won six in a row and the Golden Eagles are 14-6 and 6-3 in league play.
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