1973 Marquette Basketball: Still Knocking On The Final Four Door

By 1973, Al McGuire had Marquette basketball settled into a pattern which was mostly good, with a bit of a downside. McGuire churned out nationally competitive teams, won high-profile regular season battles and was a regular in an NCAA Tournament that then invited just 25 teams. He would successfully advance in the NCAA bracket. But the Warriors would come up short of the Final Four. 1973 Marquette basketball fit the pattern.

A FORMIDABLE POST PRESENCE

A potent forward combo anchored the Warriors in ’73. Larry McNeil and Maurice Lucas both went 6’9”. McNeil, a junior, averaged 18 points/10 rebounds per game. Lucas, who in four years would be Bill Walton’s supporting actor in an NBA championship run in Portland, averaged a 16/11 line as sophomore.

George Frazier was only 6’3” but he played above his height, averaging seven rebounds a game while chipping in 11ppg. The coach’s son, Allie McGuire was in the backcourt, as a double-digit scorer and solid passer.

AN IMPRESSIVE OPENING STATEMENT

Marquette was ranked #5 and opened the season with two big home games. Tennessee was ranked #14. The Warriors put on a defensive show. Even allowing there was no shot clock and no three-point line in this era, beating the Vols 56-30 was still a defensive statement. Memphis was next. The Tigers, with a future NBA forward in Larry Kenon, were bound for the NCAA final in March. Marquette nipped the Tigers 72-69.

The Warriors rolled through the rest of December against more pedestrian competition. They crushed lowly Xaiver. But there were some notable escapes against subpar Big Ten teams, 89-85 against Northwestern and 75-73 over in-state rival Wisconsin. Even so, Marquette reached the New Year at 7-0 and up to #3 in the national polls.

WARNING SIGNS

McGuire’s team continued with what started to become a noticeable pattern of underperformance against mediocre teams. They nipped Butler 67-66 and DePaul 60-59. Loyola-Chicago was worse than mediocre in 1973, but the Warriors only beat the Ramblers 82-77.

In light of all this, what happened on a mid-January Saturday against Notre Dame could seem almost inevitable. The Irish were a good-but-not-great team under Digger Phelps, and the developing rivalry game was played in Milwaukee. Marquette still lost 71-69.

That was followed by a road trip to play sixth-ranked Minnesota, who had Dave Winfield playing forward. The Warriors lost to the Gophers 64-53.

Was Marquette starting to be exposed? Not just yet. They came home and hosted NCAA Tournament-bound South Carolina. Properly awakened, the Warriors hammered the Gamecocks 71-54. MU was #10 in the country and still well-positioned for the postseason.

BACK ON TRACK

Marquette went on a road trip for some rematches in late January and re-asserted themselves. They blew out Loyola-Chicago, Xavier, and DePaul by a combined 63 points. The Warriors won a tough game in Wisconsin by six and pushed their record to 15-2.

They rolled through three more easy home games, comfortably beating Tulane, Northern Illinois, and the University of Detroit (today’s Detroit Mercy).

A four-game road trip ended the regular season. After efficiently dispatching Bowling Green and Fordham, Marquette went to Long Beach State. The 49ers were ranked #4 in the nation and coached by Jerry Tarkanian. The Warriors lost 76-66.

MU was able to close the season on a positive note, beating a respectable Creighton squad 61-49. They were 21-3, ranked #5 in the polls and bound for the NCAA Tournament’s Mideast Regional (the organizational forerunner of today’s South bracket).

In an era of college basketball where there wasn’t a lot of parity and unpredictable outcomes, some of the regular season’s sluggishness was more noteworthy than it would be today. But there was still every reason to be hopeful.

LUCAS TAKES OVER

There were six teams in the Mideast Regional. Indiana and Kentucky got the byes into the Sweet 16, while Marquette played an opening round game in Dayton. The opponent was Miami-Ohio. A nice MAC team, the Redskins had only two double-digit scorers and were led by Rich Hampton and his 15 points/9 rebounds a night.

While Hampton played well and got 21, Marquette controlled the rest of the lineup and Lucas was dominant. The big forward went off for an exquisite 24 points/12 rebounds/7 assists line. Frazier knocked down 20 points and grabbed eight boards himself. The Warriors led 38-31 by the half and rolled on to a 77-62 win.

KNIGHT & INDIANA END THE RUN

Bob Knight, in the early days of his legendary Indiana tenure, was next. The Hoosiers were built around center Steve Downing ,and his 20/11 per-game average.

At the regionals in Nashville, both teams shot the ball well. Marquette got 20 points from an emerging guard, Marcus Washington. McNeil posted a 12/12 line. But the stars of the first round had a rougher night. Lucas shot 6-for-15 and Frazier was held to eight points. Indiana got the free throw line more consistently than Marquette and Downing went off for a 29/10 game. The Warriors lost 75-69.

WHEN WAS THE BREAKTHROUGH COMING?

For six years, Marquette had been playing at this level—a nationally competitive team who could win big games and move forward in the NCAA Tournament but not make the Final Four. McGuire had brought the program to the point where a 21-3 regular season and NCAA advancement were expectations that were baked into the cake. When was the next step coming?

Fortunately, Warrior fans didn’t have long to wait. In 1974, Marquette made the Final Four. And in 1977, McGuire’s swan song, they won it all.