The 2011–12

Marquette Golden Eagles men's basketball The Marquette Golden Eagles men's basketball team (formerly the Marquette Hilltoppers and Marquette Warriors) represents Marquette University in NCAA Division I college basketball and competes in the Big East Conference. The team plays its home ...

team represented

Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Established by the Society of Jesus as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, it was founded by John Henni, John Martin ...

in the

2011–12 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2011–12 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 7, 2011 with the (2K Sports Classic) and ended with the 2012 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament's championship game on April 2, 2012 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome ...

. Marquette was coached by

Buzz Williams Brent Langdon "Buzz" Williams (born September 1, 1972) is an American basketball coach who is the head coach at Texas A&M University. He previously served as head coach at Virginia Tech from 2014 to 2019, Marquette from 2008 to 2014, and New Orl ...

and played their home games at the

Bradley Center The Bradley Center (also known as the BMO Harris Bradley Center under sponsorship agreements) was a multi-purpose arena located on the northwest corner of North Vel R. Phillips Ave. and West State Streets in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United ...

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

. The Golden Eagles were members of the

Big East Conference The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and M ...

. The Golden Eagles finished the season 26–7, 14–4 in Big East play to finish in second place. (

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

, the winner of the Big East regular season, was forced to vacate its wins from the season due to NCAA violations.) The Eagles received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they defeated

BYU Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day S ...

and

Murray State Murray State University (MSU) is a public university in Murray, Kentucky. In addition to the main campus in Calloway County in southwestern Kentucky, Murray State operates extended campuses offering upper level and graduate courses in Paducah, ...

to advance to the Sweet Sixteen for the second consecutive year. There they lost to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Previous season

The

Golden Eagles The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known birds of ...

finished the 2010–11 season 22–15, 9–9 in Big East play to finish in a three-way tie for ninth place. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they advanced to the Sweet Sixteen before losing to

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

Preseason

On October 19, 2011, at Big East Media Day, Marquette was picked to finish in sixth place in the Big East Preseason Coaches' Poll, receiving 155 points.

Darius Johnson-Odom Darius "Darjo" Earvin Johnson-Odom (born September 28, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for Rapid București of the Liga Națională. In 2009, he transferred to Marquette University from Hutchinson Community College. As a sen ...

was named to the Preseason All-Big East First Team, while

Jae Crowder Corey Jae Crowder (born July 6, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Not being heavily recruited out of high school, Crowder committed to South Georgia Technical ...

was an honorable mention.

Roster

2011 Paradise Jam

Marquette traveled to St. Thomas for the

Paradise Jam tournament The U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam is a NCAA college basketball tournament that takes place annually in late November. The men's tournament typically takes place the week before Thanksgiving, with the women's tournament occurring during Thanksgi ...

in mid-November. Marquette had an easy path to the final game, then were tested. In the opening round, Marquette took on Winthrop, and won easily 95–73, behind 26 points from Vander Blue, who hit his first nine shots, which included two three-point attempts. In the semifinal round, Marquette again won easily, beating Ole Miss 96–66. In this game,

hit nine of eleven field goal attempts, and ended with 25 points. Norfolk State also won their first two game in the tournament, so the two teams faced each other for the tournament championship. Marquette had played Norfolk State just a week earlier in Milwaukee, in a game that was never in doubt. Marquette opened up a 6–0 lead, expanded the lead to eleven by halftime, then scored 59 points in the second half to win the game 99–68. When the two teams met in the Paradise Jam final, the game started out similarly to the early game, with Marquette never trailing, and reaching a nine point lead at halftime. However, instead of scoring 59 points in the second half, they would score only 59 points in the game. The Golden Eagles, ranked 16th in the AP poll, held a 14 point lead at one time, but Norfolk State had two 7–0 runs and tied up the game at 57 points apiece with just over two minutes left. Marquette scored to take a lead; Norfolk State had a chance to tie in the closing seconds but failed to hit the basket, and Marquette won the 2011 Paradise Jam Championship 59–57.

Schedule and results

, - !colspan=9 style=, Non-conference regular season , - !colspan=9 style=, Big East regular season , - !colspan=9 style=, Big East tournament , - !colspan=9 style=, NCAA tournament

Rankings

*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:2011-12 Marquette Golden Eagles men's basketball team

Marquette Golden Eagles The Marquette Golden Eagles, formerly known as the Marquette Warriors, Blue and Gold, Gold, Hilltoppers, and Golden Avalanche (football only), are the athletic teams representing Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. They ...

Marquette Golden Eagles men's basketball seasons Marquette Marquette Marquette