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 (NCAA), Division I college basketball and competes in the Big East Conference. The tea ...

team represented

Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It was established as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, by John Henni, the first Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Ar ...

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 Coaches vs. Cancer Classic and ended with the 2012 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament's championship game on April 2, 2012, at the Mer ...

. 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 the University of Maryland. He previously served as head coach at Texas A&M from 2019 to 2025, Virginia Tech from 2014 to 2019, Marq ...

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 is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

. The Golden Eagles were members of the

Big East Conference The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

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

Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

, 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 and

Murray State Murray State University (MSU) is a public university in Murray, Kentucky, in the Southern United States. In addition to the main campus in Calloway County in southwestern Kentucky, Murray State operates extended campuses offering upper-level an ...

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

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

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 p ...

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 U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

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 Al-Difaa Al-Jawi of the Iraqi Basketball Premier League. In 2009, he transferred to Marquette University from Hutchinson Community Co ...

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 Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Not being heavily recruited out of high school, Crowder committed to South Georgia Te ...

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 an NCAA college basketball tournament that takes place annually in late November. The men's tournament typically takes place the week before Thanksgiving (United States), Thanksgiving, with the women's tou ...

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 are an athletic team representing Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. They compete as a member of the NCAA Division I level (non-football, sub-level), primarily competing in the Big East Conf ...

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