I think I’ve said this before: Writing recaps for overtime basketball games is the worst thing I have to do on this site. There’s so much that’s important to the outcome of the game that happens in those five extra minutes, and to a certain extent, none of the first 40 minutes mattered because the two teams ended up in a tie. How am I supposed to figure out exactly what was and was not important here?

And so that’s where we find ourselves with #7 Marquette’s 85-83 overtime victory at DePaul on Tuesday night. What was important to bring up relative to pivotal plays or sequences of this game?

We could start with Marquette’s 21-10 lead in the first five-plus minutes, as DePaul coughed the ball up four times, kind of like we thought might happen. I don’t think we were expecting Ben Gold to drain three three-pointers to get us to that point, but that’s what happened, so we’ll take it. From there, things went sideways. A 28-10 run by the Blue Demons erupted from there as Marquette got stymied by a zone defense for what felt like entire mesozoic eons at a time, and only David Joplin raining in threes was keeping MU alive.

DePaul took a six point lead with just a bit over three minutes left in the half, but MU closed on a 7-2 burst, which DePaul kind of giftwrapped for MU. At least the very last bucket was giftwrapped, as DePaul fouled to make MU reset the possession out of bounds with seven seconds left, and the Golden Eagles very quickly hit Joplin in the corner, so it was just a one point game at the break.

Okay, they slapped DePaul in the face, DePaul slapped them back, time for Marquette to come out of the locker room guns blazing and fix everything that went wrong, right? Start forcing some turnovers after the Blue Demons only had two in the final 14 minutes of the first half, let’s see what happens……. and MU did not really do that. DePaul’s lead never grew to more than five, so it’s not like the home team started running away with it, but it was clear that the two teams were locked into a shootout of sorts, or whatever you call a shootout that doesn’t get to 70 points in regulation.

Part of Marquette’s problem was that zone defense from DePaul just kept causing them problems…. and Kam Jones just kept missing three-pointers. I’m not saying that Jones’ shooting is why MU couldn’t put DePaul away here….. but at some point, seven straight misses without a make from the guy being hailed as a national player of the year candidate is just killing you.

And yet.

With 45 seconds left in regulation, Jones hit the purest looking shot you’ll ever see in your life to slash a four point DePaul lead to just one point. Then, on the other end, Stevie Mitchell merely existing caused Conor Enright to just crossover dribble the ball over the midcourt line with 25 seconds left. Marquette called timeout, they ran some action, nothing really quite worked out to the best possible level that they wanted, and then, Chase Ross from downtown, pure as anything you’ve ever seen, Marquette up 67-65.

All Marquette had to do was just stop the ball from moving as the Blue Demons brought it up the court. They didn’t. Enright got to the rim but Ben Gold swatted it……… a split second too late. Goaltending. Even after a replay review, too close to overturn. Kam Jones came real close on a prayer with three seconds left, but it bounced away, and we went to extra time.

Extra Time is David Joplin time, apparently, as the senior forward rained in a pair of threes on either side of a Jacob Meyer turnover, Marquette by six, less than four minutes left. Stevie Mitchell hauled in a Chase Ross airball, MU by six, less than three minutes left. Enright let his foot slide out of bounds on a rebound, Mitchell bulled his way to the rim, put back his own miss, Marquette by eight, less than 90 seconds left.

We’re done, right?

Mitchell committed his fifth foul, Enright missed the freebie, DePaul fouled Joplin, who made both, Marquette by ten, 1:02 to play.

We’re done, right? I don’t have to write more about this game, right?

Isaiah Rivera stopped missing.

Three-pointer. Ross split two free throws, dunk by CJ Gunn, two freebies by Ross, Three-pointer by Rivera. Ross makes the freebies. THREE-POINTER BY RIVERA.

Four point game, 13 seconds left. How. Why. Who.

After a timeout, MU got in inbounds to Kam Jones under-ish the hoop, he threw a terrible pass that got lost out of bounds.

THREE. POINTER. BY. RIVERA. 12 points in 43 seconds. Some real Reggie Miller level nonsense. One point game, seven seconds left when MU was up 10 with less than a minute to go.

But DePaul has to foul, they don’t have a choice. Kam Jones misses the first, so the second one leaves the door open for DePaul to tie or win ………. and Ben Gold stops the ball from moving up the floor. Was it a blocking foul? Maybe, but also the refs aren’t going to give you a lot of credit for moving away from the hoop with three seconds left. Jacob Meyer loses the ball around the big Kiwi, replay review says it did not touch Gold, call on the court of MU ball stands, inbound, JOPLIN MISSES TWO FREE THROWS, but it was with fractions of a second left. Game over.

finally

It was another terrific performance from behind the arc for Joplin, getting 21 of his game high 30 points on 7-for-13 shooting on three-pointers. He also had four rebounds, an assist, two blocks, and two steals for a nice all-around day. Kam Jones added 18 points even though he was 1-for-10 from long range, and his 11 assists gives him a double-double. Chase Ross added 15, and that monster three with scant seconds left in regulation was his only make on five attempts on this night. Ben Gold had 14 points on a great 4-for-7 long range shooting performance, and he had a big transition dunk in the second half for the other bucket.

How about some highlights, courtesy of GoMarquette.com and CBS Sports Network?

Up Next: It’s time for Marquette’s first repeat opponent of Big East play! Yes, only seven games in, that’s how it goes sometimes. MU will put their perfect 6-0 Big East mark on the line on Saturday when Xavier comes to Fiserv Forum. Tipoff is set for 1pm Central, and big fancy Fox will have the broadcast. Xavier is coming off a 69-63 home win over Villanova on Tuesday night that moved them to 3-4 in league action.