Shaka Smart's decision not to call a timeout in the closing minutes of Marquette's victory over Xavier was a sign of trust with his players
Xavier is one of the best teams in the Big East and showed it with a gritty performance at Fiserv Forum on Wednesday night when Jack Nunge scored a bucket with about 9 seconds left to gain a 68-67 edge over Marquette.
And since this is college basketball, most college coaches would call a timeout to set up exactly what they want.
Just a sophomore, Marquette guard Stevie Mitchell still understands this implicit rule. So he looked way back at his bench to head coach Shaka Smart.
And Smart didn't call a thing.
By this point, Mitchell's teammate Kam Jones - also just a sophomore - must have had the internal clock running and alarms sounding because the guard wasted no time in pushing the ball up court. His presence of mind saved the day.
You can see this on MU's highlight video; at the 2:11 mark.
Jones took the ball all the way, beat the defense on its heels with a crossover, and missed the shot, a tough one at that under pressure. It was his 12th miss of the game. But the awareness and hustle gave Marquette forward Olivier-Maxence Prosper enough time for the rebound and a putback. That winning basket came with just under 2 seconds left and Marquette won, 69-68.
In the post-game interview video, Mitchell and Smart explain why no timeout was needed. It's kind of remarkable.
If Smart gets any votes for coach of the year, it will be exactly for results like this - but let's not forget about the faith and trust, and not micromanaging his team in the biggest game of the season so far.
Watch the highlights video again and see that two Marquette Golden Eagles are already getting back on defense to protect that one-point lead. Marquette is a heady team, smart and aware. That helped - along with a 15-4 offensive rebound advantage - their cause.
More:Marquette drops a spot in this week's AP men's college basketball top 25
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Why Marquette's no-call for timeout against Xavier was brilliant move
