From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
The Marquette Golden Eagles did everything in their power, and it just wasn't quite enough.
That's what made their 82-81 overtime loss to the Stanford Cardinal in the teams' South Regional second-round matchup at the Honda Center on Saturday night so difficult to swallow.
Knowing they'd have to get every player's best effort to try and slow down the third-seeded Cardinal's 7-foot Lopez twins, the sixth-seeded Golden Eagles got that. MU also ran every available big body at them at some point, used up almost every available foul and tried every trick in the book.
Yet it was Brook Lopez's turnaround jump shot with just 1.3 seconds remaining that proved to be the difference, as it sent Stanford on to Houston and the Sweet 16 next weekend and MU back to Milwaukee to reflect on a memorable season that ended in heartbreaking fashion.
"It was an extremely tough shot. He hit a number of tough shots down the stretch," said MU point guard Dominic James. "Our guys were battling down low, and it just happened to fall. This team is all about facing hard times and people doubting us. We showed a lot of character throughout the tournament, throughout the entire season.
"I wouldn't ask to go into battle with any other guys than the guys I was out there with on the floor today."
Marquette's season ended, but UW earned a spot in the Sweet Sixteen.
The Badgers improved to 31-4 and set a school record for victories in a season. They advanced to the Sweet 16 for the third time in Ryan's seven seasons.
They will play either second-seeded Georgetown or 10th-seeded Davidson on Friday at a time to be determined at Ford Field in Detroit. Georgetown and Davidson play at 1:50 p.m. today in Raleigh, N.C.
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