For a moment, Marquette guard D.J. Carton’s face sunk when his potential game-winning free throw fell short and clanged off the front iron. The Golden Eagles were tied with No. 4 Wisconsin, 65-65, and with 0.9 seconds remaining, the game appeared to be headed for overtime.
Then forward Justin Lewis intervened to save the day.
Lewis tipped in the miss as time expired, sealing Marquette’s 67-65 victory. The shot capped a wild final two minutes in Milwaukee, during which the teams traded leads eight different times.
Lewis led all scorers with 18 points, making six of his 10 shot attempts with eight rebounds and two blocks.
Marquette led at halftime, 35-30, and maintained the lead for most of the second half when the Badgers began their comeback. Wisconsin guard D’Mitrik Trice made two free throws with two minutes to play to give the Badgers a 57-56 lead, their first lead in over 12 minutes of game time.
The Golden Eagles held a 60-58 lead when Wisconsin’s Aleem Ford knocked down a 3-pointer with 1:09 remaining to give the Badgers a one-point lead. Lewis answered with a layup on the other end with 41 seconds remaining, following by a layup by Wisconsin forward Nate Reuvers 11 seconds later.
Carton put Marquette back on top, 64-63, on the ensuing possession, but Trice answered on the other end with a step-back jumper with just five seconds left on the clock. Carton then drew a blocking foul on Trice with 0.9 seconds left, setting up Lewis’ heroics on the game’s final play.
