Finally! MU shocks #10 Villanova 80-76 as Coobie dominated prep teammate Reynolds

Nova’s string of three straight wins by two points or less against MU was broken this afternoon when MU survived the final 5:36 despite playing with four fouls on both Lazar Hayward and Mo Acker.

DJO and Hayward trapped Corey Fisher and Lazar seemed to knock the ball away from Fisher with his elbow before starting down the court for an uncontested dunk that would have given MU a 64-56 lead. Instead, a 4th foul was called on Lazar and Nova dominated the next few minutes with Mo and Lazar rotating in and out to tie the score 70-70.

However, Lazar nailed 3-pointer with 1:51 to go to make Marquette 6 for 6 from behind the arc in the 2nd half and give MU the lead for good at 73-70. Lazar and Coobie then hit seven of eight free throws in the final minute to seal the win, 80-76.

Coobie shuts down Reynolds

David Cubillan showed he was as sick as the rest of us of Scottie Reynolds’ last game heroics to beat MU. On one occasion Reynolds was so upset that Coobie had picked him clean for a steal that he dove onto the back of Coobie’s leg trying to get the ball back, and then rolled him to the ground and referees quickly stepped between the two. Both seemed to be doing a lot of talking, but Reynolds can remember his last match-up with Coobie today through the following lines:

David Cubillan 4-7 FG, 3-5 three-pointers, 6-8 FTs, 2 steals, 17 points

Scottie Reynolds 4-10, 2-5, 0-0, 1 steal, 10 points

With the win, Marquette improved to 8-8 in an incredible 16 games decided by five points or less.

MU was outshot again, 54% to 48% overall, due to Corey Stokes having a career game of 8-9 from the floor, and was outrebounded 28-20. However, MU offset that once again by winning the turnover battle, giving the ball away only 8 times against a Nova team that averages 16 forced turnovers a game and instead turned it over 14 times themselves.

DJO leads in points, treys, assists and steals

In addition to the 14-8 edge in turnovers, MU won the 3-point battle again (11 of 18 for 61%). ESPN noted that Marquette is 17-0 when they shoot just 45% or better overall from the field. DJO had an incredible game on the New York stage, scoring 24 points on 5 of 7 from behind the arc, driving past tough Nova defenders throughout, and also leading the team with both 5 assists and three steals.

MU plays Georgetown in the semifinal tomorrow at 6 p.m. CST.