Marquette falls to Providence in wild, two-overtime thriller
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PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Marquette and Providence have played some wild games in recent seasons.
There was a game at the Bradley Center interrupted by a bat. In Providence, there was a game in which the floor was so slippery that officials and coaches agreed not to call travels and also a game in which a Friars player’s brother stormed on the court in the middle of a free throw.
And that’s not to mention MU’s Markus Howard scoring 52 points or last season’s game getting moved to a day later because of a Nor’easter that dropped over two feet of snow.
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At the newly rechristened Amica Mutual Pavilion – yes, not the Dunkin’ Donuts Center – the teams battled in a wild-back-and-forth game that Providence ended up with a 103-98 victory in double overtime.
Both MU (9-4, 1-1 Big East) – which debuted this week at No. 24 in the Associated Press top 25 poll – and Providence (10-3, 2-0) both had chances to put the game away before the game even reached the second extra five minutes.
BOX SCORE: Providence 103, Marquette 98
Tyler Kolek, a Rhode Island native, made all three of his field-goal attempts in the first five minutes.
The first half became a battle of runs. First, the Friars ripped off 10 unanswered points to take a 21-12 lead.
MU battled back to get within 23-20, but Providence answered to take its biggest advantage of the first half at 34-23.
Just when it seemed like the game might spiral on the Golden Eagles, they mustered a 10-0 run to tie the game at 36-36. Kolek and Ighodaro each had four points in that stretch.
The Friars took a 39-38 lead into the break. Both teams did most of their damage in the paint, combining for just 4 of 15 on three-pointers in the first 20 minutes.
Kolek and Kam Jones each had 10 points to lead MU in the first half.
MU’s Olivier-Maxence Prosper opened the second half with a three-point play, then he sank a three-pointer for a 51-47 lead.
After a three-pointer by Providence’s Jared Bynum tied the game at 54-54, Kolek knocked down three free throws and Ighodaro dunked off an offensive rebound. That little run prompted a timeout from Providence coach Ed Cooley.
The Friars kept hanging around, but with the crowd at full throat Jones banked in a three-pointer and then worked his way for a layup that gave MU a 75-66 lead with just over seven minutes remaining.
Providence had another big run, and MU went almost four minutes without scoring, and took a 77-76 lead on a three-point play by Ed Croswell with 2:13 left.
David Joplin finally broke the drought by knocking in a tough layup that tied the game at 78-78 with 39 seconds left.
The Friars had two good chances in the waning seconds, but Bynum missed a three-pointer and then, after Providence got the offensive rebound, he threw the ball away.
MU got the ball with four seconds remaining, and speedy freshman Sean Jones raced up the court but missed a three at the buzzer.
In the first overtime, Providence’s physicality overwhelmed MU and the Friars took an 88-80 lead before Golden Eagles head coach Shaka Smart called a timeout.
MU got seven straight points from Kolek to cut the lead to 88-87 with just over a minute left.
After Providence’s Bryce Hopkins made one of two free throws, Kolek backed down Bynum and hit a short jumper to tie the game at 89-89.
With five seconds left, Providence raced up the floor but Devin Carter missed a good look at the basket.
In the second overtime, both Prosper and Kolek fouled out in the first two minutes.
Joplin gave MU a 96-93 lead with just over two minutes left with a three-pointer in the corner, but Providence’s Alyn Breed answered with a triple of his own.
Hopkins gave Providence the lead at 100-98 and then Breed clinched the victory with two free throws.
Kolek led MU with 29 points. Hopkins had 29 for Providence.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Marquette falls to Providence in wild, two-overtime thriller