Providence College had never won in Milwaukee. They’d lost big, and they’d lost in heartbreaking fashion.
This time, they were coming into an electric atmosphere, on the back of Marquette’s upset of Villanova. Marquette, as Ed Cooley said afterwards, “are playing as good as anyone in America”.
And they toughed out a gritty, hard-fought win. They had an incredible first half, holding a vaunted Marquette offense to just 32 points while scoring 40 of their own, including going 6-8 from beyond the arc. Emmitt Holt and Jalen Lindsey both registered 11 points in the period.