Final
Marquette 62, West Virginia 63
Dec 30, 2009 - 2:36 AM By JOHN RABY AP Sports WriterMORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) -- Da'Sean Butler's 20-foot jumper with 2 seconds left lifted No. 6 West Virginia to a 63-62 victory over Marquette on Tuesday night.
West Virginia (11-0, 2-0 Big East) overcame a five-point deficit in the final minute and its lowest point total of the season to improve to its best start since a Jerry West-led team won 14 straight to begin the 1957-58 season.
Devin Ebanks led the Mountaineers with 19 points, while Kevin Jones added 18 and Butler 17.
Lazar Hayward scored 24 points and Darius Johnson-Odom added 14 for Marquette (9-4, 0-1). The Golden Eagles made 10 of 16 3-pointers but had none over the final 9 minutes.
Butler fouled out of a blowout loss at Marquette last season but this time kept the Mountaineers in a game in which they trailed for most of the second half. He scored eight points over the final 12 minutes.
West Virginia blew a 10-point lead over the final minute of regulation against Seton Hall on Saturday but won in overtime.
Hayward's three-point play started a 10-5 run and Dwight Buycks' basket with 4:53 left gave Marquette its largest lead of the second half, 59-53.
Marquette led 62-57 after a free throw by Johnson-Odom with 1:02 left, but the Golden Eagles didn't score again.
After Johnson-Odom missed the front end of a 1-and-1, Ebanks went the length of the court and dunked with 16 seconds left to pull West Virginia within 62-61.
Marquette's Jimmy Butler missed another 1-and-1 with 11 seconds left and the Mountaineers made him pay.
Butler turned around on the top right side of the key and buried a long jumper with his foot on the 3-point line, prompting a roar from the sellout crowd.
After a timeout, Joe Mazzulla intercepted a long pass at the other end of the court to send the Mountaineers unbeaten into Friday's showdown at No. 4 Purdue (12-0).
For the third straight game, West Virginia coach Bob Huggins started an all-forward lineup, which averaged 3 inches taller than Marquette's starters. But height wasn't an issue for the Golden Eagles.
West Virginia scored the game's first seven points. But behind seven 3-pointers, Marquette led by as many as seven late in the first half. Ebanks' 3-pointer at the buzzer cut the Golden Eagles' lead to 37-33.
- NCAA BB
MARQUETTE 62
WEST VIRGINIA (6) 63 FINAL
Dec 29 8:59 PM - 191
rootsRUWTbot Added 28 roots (Close Finish, Upset)
Marquette 62, West Virginia(6) 61 2nd - 0:16Dec 29 8:54 PM - 158
rootsRUWTbot Added 38 roots (Close Finish, Upset)
Marquette 59, West Virginia(6) 57 2nd - 2:43Dec 29 8:44 PM - 120
rootsRUWTbot Added 14 roots (Close Finish, Upset)
Marquette 59, West Virginia(6) 55 2nd - 3:31Dec 29 8:39 PM - NCAA BB
HALFTIME 1ST 2ND TOTAL
--- --- -----
MARQUETTE 37 37
WEST VIRGINIA (6) 33 33 HALFTIME
HIGH SCORERS AT HALFTIME
MARQUETTE - LAZAR HAYWARD 17, DARIUS JOHNSON-ODOM 7,
TWO PLAYERS WITH 5
WEST VIRGINIA - KEVIN JONES 12, DEVIN EBANKS 11,
DA'SEAN BUTLER 6
Dec 29 7:48 PM
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