(3) Missouri 83, (6) Marquette 79
No. 3 Missouri had an answer for every big shot that No. 6 Marquette made, and the Tigers found a way to beat the Golden Eagles 83-79. Marquette erased a 16-point deficit to take the lead in the second half. Marquette’s stars fueled the comeback, as Wesley Matthews, Jerel McNeal and Lazar Hayward scored 40 of Marquette’s 44 second-half points.
With the Golden Eagles up 78-74, Missouri turned to junior guard J.T. Tiller to attack the lane and draw a foul. After two free throws and a Marquette turnover, senior forward Leo Lyons hit a layup in traffic and drew the foul. He made the free throw to give the Tigers a 79-78 lead.
At the other end, McNeal made only 1-of-2 free throws, setting up an unusual play in which Tiller drove to the basket, drew a foul but couldn’t take the free throws because he was injured on the play. Tiller is a 76 percent free throw shooter on the season. Freshman guard Kim English, a 68 percent free throw shooter, stepped in and calmly drained both free throws, which proved to be the winning points for Missouri. English had 17 points off the bench for Missouri, and Lyons led the Tigers with 18. For Marquette, McNeal finished with 30, Matthews had 24, and Hayward added 13. The trio scored all but 12 of Marquette’s points.
