Marquette was getting all they could handle from North Dakota State. One of the better teams in the Summit League, the Bison were handing right in, answering runs with runs of their own to stay right there.
Then Markus Howard got one last run going. The Golden Eagles finally had breathing room. Eventually they had an 82-68 win ahead of Christmas.
North Dakota State made a late run in the first half to tie the game at 36, before the Golden Eagles got the last basket to go up 38-36 at the break. Then the Golden Eagles constantly led, but the Bison wouldn’t go away, getting within a possession on a number of occasions. Howard put them up 50-44 on a three-pointer, only to see Tyson Ward get a dunk and two free throws to get within 50-48. Howard would hit another three, then the Bison would hit one of their own. Marquette would go up 59-52, then two straight baskets made it 59-56.
And on and on it went. Finally, with the Golden Eagles up 63-60 after another dunk by Ward to get closer, Howard made a layup, then a three-pointer after a Bison miss, and thus began a slow 9-0 run over more than four minutes where neither team did much that put the game out of reach.
Howard finished with 32 points on 10-24 shooting, including 5-11 from long range. He had four assists and five turnovers, but any NBA scouts had to like some of what they say. While he’s never been a gunner, he showed a nice game off the bounce here even when he didn’t get a shot or missed, finding creative ways to get by defenders to make plays. He doesn’t need much space to get his shot off and has unlimited range, but an expanded game off the bounce only helps.
He will still have questions about the next level given his size and that he isn’t a point guard, but if he can do some of what he did on Friday night – granted, against a team that’s not exactly made up of future NBA players – that will be a plus. If he makes it in the NBA, it will be because of his shooting and a team feeling that he isn’t enough of a defensive liability to leave off a roster – think Carsen Edwards – but being able to do a little more won’t hurt. He is showing that, and while he is a senior, he’s a young senior.
Howard had good help in this one, and that will be important. Brendan Bailey didn’t have a big night offensively with just eight points, but he is emerging as a key support as he’s now shooting 41.7 percent from deep on the season, and he blocked five shots in this one. Sacar Anim had 14 points on 6-10 shooting, and Kobe McEwen had 12 and seven rebounds while showing that he has an in-between game that complements Howard and Bailey shooting from long range. Theo John capably anchored them inside.
Ward had 25 points on 9-14 shooting and nine rebounds for North Dakota State, who should be among the favorites in the Summit League. They acquitted themselves well, and they do have a win over East Tennessee State to their credit, so they have shown how capable they are.
And for a while, they were very difficult for Marquette to shake. Howard and his teammates finally managed to do it later in the game.
Side Dishes
The game of the night might have been Georgia‘s 87-85 win over SMU in double overtime, where Sahvir Wheeler got a layup with two seconds left in the extra session for the game-winner. Wheeler had nine points and eight rebounds in 34 minutes off the bench, but he was Mr. Clutch as he also sent the game to a second overtime with a layup in the final seconds of the first extra session. Anthony Edwards had 16 points, but on 6-17 shooting, as Rayshaun Hammonds led them with 21 points and 11 rebounds. SMU got a big game from Isiaha Mike with 25 points and 12 rebounds, going 5-10 from long range.
Other results of note: Penn State remained hot by blowing out winless Central Connecticut 87-58; Liberty moved to 13-0 by using a big second half to beat Towson 66-54 at the D.C. Holiday Hoops Fest in the nation’s capital; LIU Brooklyn knocked off Delaware 82-75 in overtime, getting 24 points and nine rebounds from Raiquan Clark to overcome 17 points and 13 rebounds by Delaware’s Justyn Mutts; in another overtime game, Norfolk State beat Bowling Green 72-67; Northern Colorado got a nice road win by knocking off South Dakota 87-68 behind 24 points, seven rebounds and 10 assists from Jonah Radebaugh; and Santa Clara moved to 12-2 while keeping Mississippi Valley State winless with a 100-71 romp over the Delta Devils.
TCU‘s athletics program was placed on probation for a year after they self-reported violations that included 33 football and men’s and women’s basketball players, as well as other athletes, being paid for work not performed from 2015-18. The NCAA’s decision noted that the athletes involved did not clock out when they were finished working and thus were paid for hours they did not work, with payments determined to have been between $74 and $2,687 for individual athletes over the four-year span. The most serious violations involved a former swimming and diving coach in a different matter that led to a show-cause. The program was fined over $47,000, which includes the amount of money paid to the athletes plus 10 percent of the revenue from competing in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament. They did not have to vacate wins since this was due to something outside the scope of the athletic department and it was self-reported.
Tonight’s Menu
It’s a full day of action with a lot of good games to check out along the way, with quite a few coming at neutral sites.
- The good ones start right away with Kansas taking on Villanova at the Wells Fargo Center (noon)
- Also tipping right away are VCU at Wichita State and Harvard at George Washington (noon)
- Another game that tips at noon is the first in the Orange Bowl Classic in Sunrise, Florida, with Florida State taking on South Florida, then Utah State takes on Florida in what should be a dandy (2:30 p.m.)
- Always a good doubleheader, the Crossroads Classic is on tap at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, with Indiana taking on Notre Dame (noon) before Purdue battles Butler (2:30 p.m.)
- Jacksonville State appears to have come alive, and they visit a Tennessee team trying to bounce back, while West Virginia travels to Youngstown State (1 p.m.)
- Rider makes the short trip to Philadelphia to take on Temple (1 p.m.)
- Saint Louis is home to the Braggin’ Rights game as Illinois battles Missouri (1 p.m.)
- The Ocean State is busy with action at 2 p.m. as Texas visits Providence and Western Kentucky visits Rhode Island.
- UCF visits Oklahoma in what should be a good one (2 p.m.)
- The St. Pete Shootout in Florida features Duquesne putting their undefeated mark on the line against Austin Peay (2:30 p.m.) and UAB taking on Alabama State (5 p.m.)
- An under-the-radar game in the afternoon is Colorado State visiting Tulsa (2:30 p.m.)
- The Chase Center in San Francisco plays host to the Hall of Fame Al Attles Classic, which has four games on tap. It starts with Stanford taking on San Diego (3 p.m.), then Cal plays Boston College (5:30 p.m.) in the afternoon, then St. John’s takes on Arizona (10 p.m.) and Nevada plays Saint Mary’s (12:30 a.m.) to close out the day.
- Two of the preseason favorites in the Southland Conference match up on a full day of action in the conference as New Orleans visits Sam Houston State (3 p.m.)
- The CBS Sports Classic is on tap in Las Vegas, starting with UCLA taking on North Carolina (3 p.m.) and concluding with Kentucky taking on Ohio State (5:15 p.m.)
- Belmont heads south to take on Alabama in Huntsville (3:30 p.m.)
- Gonzaga looks to keep rolling as they host Eastern Washington (5 p.m.)
- Minnesota heads south to take on Oklahoma State in Tulsa (5:30 p.m.)
- Syracuse looks to get going as they host Atlantic Sun contender North Florida (6 p.m.)
- A doubleheader is on tap at the United Center in Chicago as Dayton battles Colorado (6:30 p.m.) and Cincinnati takes on Iowa (9 p.m.)
- There is also a doubleheader at the Staples Center as part of the Air Force Reserve Basketball Hall of Fame Classic, with San Diego State trying to stay undefeated as they take on Utah (6:30 p.m.) and LSU taking on USC (9 p.m.)
- Northern Kentucky visits UNC Greensboro in a nice mid-major matchup, while Murray State visits Evansville (7 p.m.)
- Saint Louis battles Kansas State in the Wildcat Classic in Kansas City (7 p.m.)
- A pair of SEC teams tip as Arkansas goes on the road to take on Valparaiso and Vanderbilt tries to get back on track as they host UNCW (8 p.m.)
- The only games tipping at 8:30 are all matchups to keep an eye on: Oregon State at Texas A&M, Creighton at Arizona State and Northwestern at DePaul.
