MILWAUKEE – The Marquette Golden Eagles magical and unexpected run wrote another chapter with a thrilling, back-and-forth, close-most-of-the-way, one-point 69-68 win Wednesday night at Fiserv Forum.
Olivier-Maxence Prosper tapped in a Kam Jones missed layup with 1.6 seconds left to lift No. 11 Marquette over No. 16 Xavier 69-68 Wednesday night to extend its Big East lead.
''I knew if he missed it, that was my rebound,'' Prosper told reporters after the game. ''I just went as hard as I could. It bounced right. I just went up there and just put it back…doing what I do, I crash the opposite glass every time.”
Marquette got 17 points and six steals from Stevie Mitchell. Tyler Kolek scored 15 and Oso Ighodaro added 14. Prosper had seven points, all in the last five minutes.
For Xavier, Souley Boum played through a sprained ankle to score a game-high 24 points in a losing effort.
The Golden Eagles next play at Creighton on Tuesday. With Marquette’s win over Xavier Wednesday night, MU will end their season having beaten every other team in the Big East at least once for the first time ever. Not bad for a team with such low expectations heading into the season.
“That’s where it all starts, is the fun that we have being with each other,” Prosper added. “Every day we come to practice, workouts, during the games, we’re having fun.”