Marquette, a Final Four participant a year ago, stoically accepted this season’s NIT invitation as an opportunity to get to New York.
The Golden Eagles (19-11) took another step in that direction Tuesday night, but it was a painful one. They had to overcome anemic shooting, sloppy ballhandling and leaky interior defense before subduing Boise State 66-53 to advance to the quarterfinals at Iowa State (19-12) either Thursday or Friday.
The decision to send Marquette on the road left Eagles coach Tom Crean a little ticked, especially because the NIT usually takes attendance into account when determining game sites and Tuesday’s crowd was 11,386.
Still, a victory over Iowa State sends the Golden Eagles to Madison Square Garden. The Cyclones advanced Tuesday with a 62-59 victory at Florida State behind Jake Sullivan’s 19 points.
Marquette hadn’t played in eight days, and it showed. Both teams, in fact, started out as if they were resigned to ending their seasons rather then extending them. They combined to miss 31 of their first 40 shots during a desultory first half that ended in a 23-23 tie.
“We’d been on the floor for eight or nine days against each other, and maybe we were a little too anxious to get going,” Crean said. “I thought we adjusted to their cuts and took away their running game and played much better in the second half.”
Marquette opened the second half with a 12-4 flurry to lead by eight, and stretched it to 10 when Todd Townsend brought the crowd to life with a spectacular putback slam and a rare three-pointer.
When Joe Chapman stole the ball and went the other way for a layup on Boise’s next possession, the Eagles led by 12, and they sealed the deal by going 11 of 12 at the foul line in the final three minutes.
But the postgame talk was of Townsend.
“Todd really gave us a lift,” Crean said. “He’s one guy I’m really happy for because with all he has been through, his attitude is just phenomenal.”
Townsend, a junior from New Trier by way of Morgan Park, started all 33 games for Marquette last season but has seen his minutes dwindle to almost nothing this year.
“He’s still one our most valuable players,” Steve Novak said. “He brings it every day in practice.To see him get in and play well made everybody feel good.”
It was a feel-good night for Marquette all the way around. Assistant coach Trey Schwab, who was released from the University of Wisconsin hospital earlier this week after undergoing a life-saving double-lung transplant, visited the Golden Eagles before the game, then watched it from a skybox.
“It was great to see him,” Novak said. “What he has been through, none of us can even imagine. It’s inspirational.”
