Less Fun Than It Seemed: Marquette 78, Providence 61

Here’s your deciding factor for how you want to feel about Marquette’s 78-61 victory over Providence on Wednesday night at the McGuire Center: How do you feel about Providence going on a 30-16 run across more than 11 minutes of game time to gut a 24 point Marquette lead down to just 10 points?

What if I tell you that there was only 3:30 left in the game when the lead got down to 10? What if I tell you that Marquette committed nine of their 14 turnovers in the game to that point during that 30-16 run to contribute to their problems? What if I tell you that the whole thing started to take on the color of the DePaul comeback the last time Marquette was in the McGuire Center, especially when Sabou Gueye and Payton Dunbar splashed threes to turn a 14 point lead down to just 10, the same way that we saw Ally Timm start going nuts for the Blue Demons?

At the end of the day, that’s why you want to take a 24 point lead with 15:42 to play. You can make a mistake here or there and not really pay for it. You’d rather not make nine mistakes to nudge the Friars along, but when they do you a solid and shoot 10-for-24 (41.7%), you can ultimately find your way through the problems to a solution. The solution in question here? Skylar Forbes cashing two three-pointers for MU’s last two buckets of the game, both in the final 70 seconds, after a Lee Volker triple with 2:57 to play that stemmed the tide against Providence in the first place. It doesn’t sound like “Marquette held Providence scoreless for 2:30” is that big of a deal, but it is when a 24 point lead was down to just 10. It was just enough to make the clock tilt back in favor of the Golden Eagles, and it capped a very impressive performance for Forbes off the bench.

Yes, Skylar Forbes came off the bench for the third straight game after missing a visit to Butler for personal reasons. At a glance, you can hardly tell: A game high 22 points on 8-for-15 shooting with her only two long range makes on five attempts coming in the final 70 seconds, six rebounds, five assists, a block, and a team high three steals in 27 minutes. A truly absurd performance, one that goes in the books as “bench contributions” in this game, even with Charia Smith playing just 13 minutes after starting in Forbes’ place.

Forbes wasn’t the only one coming up big when Marquette needed some big performances with Olivia Porter out after her leg buckled on her on the road against Georgetown last time out. Halle Vice had a double-double on 15 points and 10 rebounds, and she added a block to the fun as well. Lee Volker had 19 points, seven rebounds, two assists, and a steal. Jaidynn Mason didn’t have much going with her shot on this night, going just 2-for-6, but she had four rebounds and six assists to help the cause.

Up Next: With Seton Hall idle on Wednesday, Marquette has moved a half-game in front of the Pirates, leaving them alone in third place for the moment. The Golden Eagles will try to keep themselves in that spot on Sunday when they visit Creighton. Tipoff is set for Noon Central time, and FS1 will have the broadcast. The Bluejays moved to 7-7 in Big East play with a nailbiter 64-62 victory over Georgetown in Omaha on Wednesday.

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