Here are three things we gleaned from Marquette's 71-61 victory over No. 2-seed Miami on Thursday (East regional).
Don't let the close score fool you ... the Golden Eagles were in control the whole night.
The Golden Eagles could have beaten just about any tourney team on Thursday, touting four double-digit scorers — Vander Blue, Chris Otule, Javante Gardner, Jamil Wilson — and getting 11 rebounds from big guard Trent Lockett (along with eight points).
Of equal importance, they seemed totally at ease with the pace and pressure of playing the Hurricanes on a national stage. When Miami slowed things down, Marquette executed its offense with cool efficiency. When the 'Canes sold out on the full-court press, the Eagles (54 percent shooting from the field) made them pay on nearly every possession.
And when the Eagles needed a lucky bounce or errant loose ball off a long rebound ... presto!
It must have been torture for the Davidson and Butler players to watch Marquette battle Miami, knowing the Eagles were ripe for an upset last week. But no other sporting event embodies the Survive And Advance notion of sport more than the NCAA tourney.
It happily promotes the ideals of what happened last week has little or no relevance with today.
You'd think the Hurricanes would have gotten all the nerves out of their system last weekend, collecting victories over Pacific and Illinois. But apparently the 'Canes didn't feel any real pressure until the Sweet 16 — and that's a shame.
Let's be honest: Even if Miami (22 of 63 from the field) had played well, Marquette still probably would have emerged victorious. The Eagles had good size down low, strong depth across the board and were highly proficient against the Hurricanes' full-court press.
And yet, Miami never gave itself a chance to win in Washington D.C. The first four minutes were a mix of nerves and lethargy. The next four included a number of quality shots that simply didn't fall. The next four were crucial to the final result, as the Hurricanes began to realize the consequences of their painfully slow start. (Miami trailed 29-16 at the break.)
To Miami's credit, the effort was there for a good chunk of the game. But that also entailed a number of 'Canes playmakers — Durand Scott, Rion Brown, Shane Larkin, Trey McKinney-Jones — single-handedly trying to bust the Eagles' defense with contested shots. And with these awkward possessions came a number of off-balanced and ill-advised jumpers.
The one enduring image: Scott going 100 miles per hour to attempt a clean shot against Jamil Wilson, who blocked two tries on the same possession, and then forced Scott into a whirling-dervish layup that rimmed out in the end.
All in all, the Hurricanes picked the worst possible night to resemble nothing of the veteran-laden club that strutted its way to double ACC titles — regular season and tournament.
If 'Canes coach Jim Larranaga didn't have a sublime reputation of doing more with less (see George Mason, 2006), perhaps the Miami program would be going the way of the Dodo bird.
But given his track record of success, Larranaga has earned the benefit of doubt here.
Of equal importance, the Hurricanes have the facilities, financial backing, conference prestige and returning guard combo (Larkin and Brown) to return to the national stage, sooner rather than later.
Jay Clemons can be reached on Twitter, day or night, at @FOX_JayClemons.
