Kam Jones, Stevie Mitchell and Oso Ighodaro help MU scrap way to Big East title bout

NEW YORK – The Marquette men's basketball team has stated repeatedly that the biggest goal this season is making a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.

But the Golden Eagles still have pride in defending their Big East Tournament championship.

Playing without floor general Tyler Kolek due to an oblique injury, third-seeded MU has fought through two physical games and is still standing for the final game at Madison Square Garden.

Thanks to a 79-68 victory over Providence on Friday night in the semifinals, the Golden Eagles will face Connecticut in the championship game Saturday night.

BOX SCORE: Marquette 79, Providence 68

Third-seeded MU (25-8) looked like it would cruise into the title match when it went up by 17 points in the first half. But the seventh-seeded Friars (21-13) scrapped their way back into the game and got within 68-66 with 3:39 remaining.

Kam Jones showed he wasn't afraid of the moment, hitting a tough layup. He added another one that sealed the win two minutes later. Jones finished with 23 points to lead MU.

"I think the biggest thing is like every game we come in expecting it to be a war," MU guard Stevie Mitchell said. "Like we're not expecting to blow whoever we play out.

"I think it helps us when we're in those positions, like, OK, we knew it was going to be this. Let's stick with whatwe do, stick with each other and go finish the game."

Stevie Mitchell, Oso Ighodaro take physical punishment

As Mitchell was talking, he was rubbing his left shoulder.

The guard took a hard hit when drawing an offensive foul in the second half. Mitchell has absorbed a lot of physical contact over MU's two games in New York. His right wrist was also taped up.

"I feel cool," Mitchell said. "It's the championship game, are you kidding me? Injuries don't exist in the championship."

But is Mitchell worried about how much the team has left in the tank for its third game in three days. The NCAA Tournament looms next week, too, though Kolek is expected to return for those games.

"We always got more," Mitchell said. "Obviously, we're going to get Tyler back. That takes a load off everybody. He's fresh now. So I think it's going to be good."

MU big man Oso Ighodaro also took some bodily punishment going against Providence's burly Josh Oduro. Ighodaro finished with 20 points. He took 17 shots after only attempting five in the quarterfinals against Villanova on Thursday.

"I thought we did a good job responding," Ighodaro said. "We kind of got into the back and forth and I got out of control a little bit.

"But I thought we did a good job of resetting and responding and coming together as a team and just really scrapping it out."

Marquette gets big contributions from Chase Ross and Zaide Lowery

MU sophomore guard Chase Ross has been banged up all season.

He aggravated a left leg injury just two minutes in the game. He came back after getting some attention from the MU training staff, and ended up playing 26 minutes.

Ross played his usual harassing defense, but he also hit big shots. He had a four-point play, then an acrobatic layup in the final minute that was an exclamation point.

"He's just been a warrior on the defensive end," MU head coach Shaka Smart said. "We depend on him and Stevie to guard the other team's best offensive perimeter players.

"Jayden Pierre is a good player, and he's been really, really aggressive in this tournament. He was really aggressive today. He led them in shot attempts. So we can't put Stevie on (Big East player of the year Devin) Carter and Pierre. So Chase Ross is huge because he can go out there and guard those type of guys."

MU also got a big lift from freshman guard Zaide Lowery, who played 16 minutes after seeing the court for five in the quarterfinals. He knocked down a three-pointer and contributed two steals and three rebounds.

"Zaide and (fellow freshman) Tre (Norman) have been huge all season for us," Ighodaro said. They're ready to play every time they get in there. They're tough. They make winning plays."

Marquette-UConn, Part III

Now the 10th-ranked Golden Eagles get another chance at No. 2 Connecticut. The teams have already played two top-10 matchups this season, with the Huskies winning both.

"I think we've been battle tested in a lot of ways," Smart said. "We've gone through a lot of adversity this year, more recently Tyler's injury. And our guys haven't blinked. You know, they stayed together.

"Obviously (Saturday) night is going to be a heck of a challenge. We've played UConn twice, came up short both times, played them the second time without Tyler. So, for us, I think the biggest thing is really doubling down on being the best of us. I thought when we got up 17 in the first half (against Providence), we got away from that. We got almost a little bit too happy, and they smacked us in the face. And then that made it a much tighter game."

Kolek hasn't been cleared to play yet. He's missed five straight games since suffering his oblique injury against Providence on Feb. 28.

"First of all, the first thing he said in the locker room, he grabbed me and said how about I play (on Saturday)," Smart said. "Listen, we're not the same without him offensively. He's, in my opinion, the best floor general, the best pick and roll player, the best passer in the country.

"And so our guys have done a heck of a job trying to pick up the slack the best they can. As we told them, no one is going to become him. We just got to each do a little bit more of being the best version of ourselves. "