Marquette looked helpless in the second half. They trailed by eight points with nine minutes. That doesn’t seem like much. But when Marquette is out their best scorer and team leader, Markus Howard, with a face injury, that climb looks bigger. Add to the fact, Marquette scored six points total at that point, the climb got even bigger. Marquette found a way to make it back and force overtime. They would duel Xavier in one of the dumbest games possible to an 84-82 double-overtime win that made every Marquette fan want to poke their eyes out.

Player of the Game: Sacar Anim – What a run the Marquette senior has been on of late. He had his third straight game with 20 points or more (He finished with 28). And in this one, Marquette needed a leader, that was Anim. He stepped up in ways I had not seen before from him. Anim hit two huge threes in double overtimes including the go-ahead bucket with under a minute left. Anim came into his own over the last month, and it’s been a beautiful thing to see on the court.

Honorable Mention: Koby McEwen – Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Big Shot. Koby is the late game guy for Marquette. He is absolutely ridiculous in the clutch. He scored 18 points. McEwen made nine free throws and hit big shot after big shot for the Golden Eagles. He has done some amazing work in the clutch this season. While he had an up and down year, the ability to deliver in big moments like this washes away all the bad stuff.

One Thing To Like: Brendan Bailey and Jamal Cain on the glass – It took a team effort to win this game without Howard. Jamal Cain and Brendan Bailey might not have had strong shooting nights, but those guys were animals on the boards. Cain pulled nine defensive rebounds. While Bailey had eight total. Marquette’s wings combined for 17 rebounds. That’s going to win you basketball games.

Next Up: With a double-overtime game, I would have preferred a Sunday game for rest, but that isn’t happening. Marquette will play DePaul on Saturday afternoon at the Fiserv Forum. DePaul desperately needs a win to kick off February and try to play back into NCAA Tournament consideration. One to watch in this one is three-pointers. DePaul is one of the worst teams in the Big East at defending the three-point line. If Howard is back or not, they’re in trouble.

Charlie.