OMAHA, Neb. — When the Marquette men’s basketball team was picked by league coaches for ninth place in the Big East in October, point guard Tyler Kolek uttered a line on the league’s media day that has become a mantra for the chip-on -her shoulder Golden Eagles and her fans.
The edited version for a family newspaper: “Forget ’em.”
The fiery Kolek is the epitome of MU’s personality, so it made perfect sense that he would hit the biggest shots that put MU on the verge of winning a regular-season conference championship.
In the Big East’s biggest game of the regular season, the 10th-ranked Golden Eagles rebounded from an eight-point deficit at halftime to earn a dramatic 73-71 win over No. 19 Creighton Tuesday at CHI Health Center.
BOX RESULT: Marquette 73, Creighton 71
With three games remaining before the league tournament, MU (22-6, 14-3 Big East) is in the driver’s seat for the conference title. The Bluejays (18-10, 12-5) fell back two games. Providence, alone in second place at 12-4, plays in Connecticut on Wednesday.
“Each of us can level up and make plays,” Kolek said. “I am the leader. i am a veteran
“In those situations where you have 18,000 people yelling at you, you have to have some big balls to get up and make a game, and I did that.”
After MU took a 10-point lead, seven minutes went by without a field goal, and Creighton rallied to keep the game at 67-67. Kolek responded with a right-hand layup.
The Bluejays leveled the game again before Kolek put MU ahead with a left-handed floater with 29 seconds left.
“He’s come a long way,” said MU head coach Shaka Smart. “Last year, 365 days ago, he wasn’t even in the game at the crucial time.
“Now he has the ball in his hands, he makes these decisions.”
Oso Ighodaro and Kam Jones add big performances
Kolek finished with 18 points, six assists, four rebounds and three steals to cement his case for Big East Player of the Year. But he had a lot of help.
Kam Jones kept MU within striking distance in the first half with 10 points and finished with a team-high 19.
Oso Ighodaro was a big catalyst for the second-half rebound. In the first half, with 7-foot-2 Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner playing well away from Ighodaro, the MU big man played passively.
But in the second half, Ighodaro made all six shots and scored 14 of his 18 points.
“I was just trying to be aggressive,” Ighodaro said. “We knew they would probably be guarding me like that and just try to use that to our advantage and move on to the next action. Get my teammates involved. We just tried to find ways to score.”
Ighodaro even hit two free throws when Creighton deliberately fouled him with just three minutes to go and MU held on to a 63-60 lead.
Ighodaro is a 51.6% free throw shooter this season but has put down many clutch attempts from the charity streak.
“I thought Oso’s game was matched only by his leadership,” Smart said. “All the little things he’s done to cheer up his teammates, to help his teammates have a little bit more confidence in themselves and our plan and what we’re doing has made all the difference.”
Shaka Smart pleased with Marquette’s defense
MU’s defense also helped turn the tide with five steals in the first five minutes of the second half.
Nine of Creighton’s 15 turnovers came after halftime. MU guard Stevie Mitchell had five steals and 11 in his last two games.
“It was a gut test for us,” Smart said. “Because we knew we had to defend better. We had to be better with more active hands.
“I think we got 11 deflections in the first four or five minutes of the second half.
Still, MU needed a little luck. After Kolek put MU ahead with 29 seconds to go, Creighton’s Trey Alexander missed a three.
“It’s just one of those things, you need things to make your way,” said Creighton coach Greg McDermott. “But we had a good look to win the game and unfortunately it didn’t go in.”
Marquette is targeting the first Big East title since the 2012-13 season
MU will play DePaul at the Fiserv Forum on Saturday and Butler on February 28 before finishing the regular season on March 4 against St. John’s.
“We had a quiet confidence over the summer,” Smart said. “And that was already in the pre-season. In our room we felt better than everyone thought.
“Because of the character of our players, they didn’t really pay attention to what anyone said. We use that as motivation, but what drives us even more is the belief our boys have in each other.”
Early in the season, MU struggled to finish tight games. The Golden Eagles have taken control of the Big East with back-to-back thrilling victories.
“We’re going to come here or wherever we go with a lead around us,” Smart said. “We have to do everything we can to believe in ourselves that we can win.
“There is no other way. You can’t tiptoe in here. But yeah, the last two games were huge for us because we had that in the bag and we knew we could come back.”
Kolek doesn’t let his team get upset.
“It was a big game, but I think the next three are just as important or even more important,” said Kolek. “Just because we know what’s at stake and we know what we have to play for.
“We’ve got to keep our razor sharp focus, just like we were for this game, and stay suspended for the next three.”
No swear words are needed for emphasis.
Kolek had the answer again with a push shot.
Creighton’s Alexander missed a good look at a three-pointer and Kam Jones sealed the win with two free throws.
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