By GENARO C. ARMAS
Henry Ellenson smiled and seemed to bounce around with nervous energy after playing 48 minutes. Coach Steve Wojciechowski had a raspy voice as he talked about being so tense that he needed an ice bath.
The young Marquette Golden Eagles will remember their 96-91 victory in double overtime over No. 20 Providence on Wednesday night for quite some time.
Jajuan Johnson scored 16 points and hit a key 3-pointer with 1:16 left in the second overtime, freshman Ellenson had 26 points and 16 rebounds, and Marquette overcame 42 points by Providence’s Ben Bentil to hand the Friars’ their third straight loss.
“I feel like I played in it,” said Wojciechowski, a former point guard at Duke. “What an amazing college basketball game for both teams. A lot of ‘Wow’ moments.”
Just a few more for Marquette (16-9, 5-7 Big East).
“Devastating loss,” downtrodden Providence coach Ed Cooley told reporters as soon as he walked to the podium after the game.
A bevy of NBA scouts sat in the Bradley Center stands to watch potential draft picks Ellenson and Providence’s Kris Dunn. Bentil made them take notice, too, after shooting 11 of 29 from the field and 6 of 13 from 3-point range.
The game ended up being a tense thriller.
“Proud of my guys because they showed great resilience,” Wojciechowski said.
Bentil, the conference scoring leader, hit a 3-pointer from the corner off the glass to make it 92-88 with 33 seconds left in double overtime. Another 3 by Bentil from the wing got the Friars (18-7, 6-6) within three with 16 seconds left.
Antsy Marquette fans who had started heading for the exits had to wait a little while longer. They groaned after Sandy Cohen III missed two foul shots with 14 seconds left.
But Bentil couldn’t hit his final attempt from behind the arc, and Marquette’s Traci Carter finished the game off by hitting two foul shots with 3 seconds left. Marquette swept the season series with Providence.
Bentil “had one of those games where … the rim looked like ocean,” Cooley said. “Give him a lot of credit, but he can’t do it by himself.”
Dunn had 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists but missed the second overtime after fouling out.
ON GUARDS
Ellenson and Bentil were the stars, but Marquette’s guards and swingmen set the pace in the overtime periods. Johnson was 5 of 10 from the field in 42 minutes and added seven rebounds.
“He’s become a guy that we can depend on … and he’s becoming a leader on our team,” Wojciechowski said about the junior.
Carter, a freshman point guard, finished with 12 points.
LOST SHOTS
Both teams had several chances to end it earlier in the night.
Marquette led by five with 43 seconds left in the first overtime before Providence rallied, capped by two foul shots by Jalen Lindsey with 8 seconds left to tie it at 81.
In regulation, Providence’s Dunn hit a 3 with 1:21 left but went 1 of 2 from the foul line with 33 seconds to leave the Friars two points ahead.
Carter drove the lane for a tying layup 8 seconds later, and a tightly-guarded Dunn threw a high pass to the wing that glanced of Lindsey’s hands and out of bounds on the next possession to ensure that the game would go into overtime.
“There were 10, I could say ‘fatal’ moments in that game that (Marquette) capitalized on every single one,” Cooley said.
IRON MEN
After playing two overtimes and matching up against Bentil, Ellenson thanked the strength and conditioning staff for putting him through valuable work last offseason. “It was tiring there at the end, but it’s just fun. It was just fun playing those overtimes,” Ellenson said.
TIP-INS
Providence: Bentil played 48 minutes and was 14 of 17 from the foul line. He added 12 rebounds. Cooley said his leading scorer’s right foot was still a little sore after suffering the injury last week against DePaul.
Marquette: Center Luke Fischer had 12 points and 10 rebounds and fouled out. He was mired in foul trouble for much of the night after picking up his third late in the first half. … The Golden Eagles allowed a nine-point lead with 8:44 left in the second half to whittle away.
UP NEXT:
Providence: Hosts Georgetown on Saturday.
Marquette: Hosts Creighton on Saturday.