Marquette finishes its Big East championship regular season by beating St. John's at Fiserv Forum
The Marquette men’s basketball team wasn’t playing for any stakes in its regular-season finale against St. John’s on Saturday afternoon at Fiserv Forum.
The sixth-ranked Golden Eagles had already locked up the Big East regular-season title and the No. 1 seeding in next week’s conference tournament by beating Butler on the road earlier in the week.
So the game against St. John’s felt more like a coronation, with a standing-room-only crowd on hand to celebrate MU's first outright Big East title. The trophy was on display in the arena’s concourse, and fans could take pictures with it.
Of course, there was still a game to play and MU earned a 96-94 victory despite a finish that got very strange.
The crowd was announced as 18,012 fans, a record for a basketball game at Fiserv Forum, and a good chunk of them stuck around to see the celebration afterward.
Everyone in the MU program got to climb up ladders to snip down pieces of the nets. MU head coach Shaka Smart stood at halfcourt amidst the confetti and soaked in the scene.
BOX SCORE:Marquette 96, St. John's 94
"Just trying to take it in," Smart said. "Look at different guys and staff members. Just grateful to be here.
"I think that it's really easy in your mind to feel like something should happen or could happen or it might happen or you'd like it to happen. But for this team to go 17-3 is very unlikely relative to pretty much what anybody thought this time last year, the summer, the fall, even starting conference play.
"The guys, I've never been around a group that cares so deeply about one another. And that's really carried our team. So now it'll be really, really interesting to see how we can turn the page and attack the postseason."
Kam Jones scores 23 points and tells doubters to 'shut up'
MU sophomore guard Kam Jones was making angel shapes with the confetti on the Fiserv court after the game and could be heard shouting "They counted us out!."
As always mentioned as MU sprinted to the title is that the Golden Eagles were picked to finish ninth by the league's coaches in the preseason.
"We went into the season wanting to win for us," Jones said. "But we didn't forget us being picked ninth. That was always in the back of our minds. That was always motivating.
"Honestly I'm pretty sure I'm speaking for everybody else on the team when I say it feels good to tell 'em 'Shut up.' "
Still the post-game scene was surreal for the sharpshooting guard who poured in a team-high 22 points while shooting 5 for 10 on three-pointers. Four other players scored in double figures for the Golden Eagles.
"I'll never forget that the rest of my life," Jones said. "I don't think my teammates will either.
"That was just fun. Having that experience with them, knowing all that we been through together and what we do and went through in the spring and the summer and fall. It's just good to see that pay off."
The ending got strange as St John's nearly forced overtime
It seemed like the Golden Eagles were going to salt the game away at the free-throw line. Tyler Kolek (18 points and 10 assists) hit two free throws for an 84-77 lead with just over two minutes remaining.
Smart even inserted walk-on Michael Kennedy - honored on Senior Day along with the injured Zach Wrightsil - with 36 seconds left. Stevie Mitchell hit two free throws for an 93-83 advantage.
Then things got strange.
The Red Storm's David Jones knocked down a three-pointer, got a steal and then knocked down another triple. Mitchell added two more free throws, but St. John's guard Dylan Addae-Wusu converted a four-point play to make in 95-93 with 13 seconds on the clock.
MU's David Joplin missed two free throws, and St. John's forward O'Mar Stanley was fouled after an offensive rebound with just over 2 seconds remaining. He made his first free throw, then Smart called a timeout. With the sellout crowd seemingly at full throat, Stanley missed the second.
Jones then made a free throw, missed the second and the clock finally ran out. The celebration could begin.
"When you play St. John's, no matter what the score is the game is never over," Smart said. "We've learned that in previous games and learned that again today."
MU will play on Thursday in Big East quarterfinals
The Golden Eagles head into the postseason, playing in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament at 11 a.m. Central on Thursday against the winner of the St. John's-Butler matchup.
"They say it's way better to learn from winning," Smart said. "It's just a unique situation in that our first opponent will be one of the last two teams that we played.
"To me the biggest thing I take out of that is it allows us to focus even more so on ourselves. It's not like we're going to find a lot of new things scouting-wise. We got to focus on all the things we can do better."
MU wants to add more hardware to that regular-season trophy. It was a quick trip last season to Madison Square Garden with a loss to Creighton in the Big East quarterfinals.
"We haven't forgotten how that felt to lose that game, to lose to Creighton three times in a season," Jones said. "That hurt in the locker room after that game.
"Not a words said. There was just a lot of hurt. We didn't want to lose that game. We were in New York for the trophy. That was in the past. Hopefully we can go to New York, take it one game at a time and hopefully come back with something."
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Marquette beats St. John's basketball at Fiserv Forum 96-94
