FINAL SCORE: No. 2 Marquette 78, No. 15 Vermont 61
COLUMBUS, Ohio – No. 15 Vermont's (23-11, 14-2 AE) upset bid fell short, as the Catamounts suffered a 78-61 loss to No. 2 Marquette (29-6, 17-3 Big East) in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday afternoon at Nationwide Arena.
 
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Postgame Press Conference
 
COACH'S QUOTE
"Obviously not the result we wanted tonight and it stinks right now," Cioffi Men's Basketball Head Coach John Becker said. "You have to give Marquette a lot of credit. That's a really good team that I thought was underrated all year defensively and really put a lot of pressure on you and speed you up. And there's some things we can look back on from an execution standpoint from a game-plan point that we didn't do as well as we all hope we did tomorrow. But it does not take away from the incredible season we had this year. And I'm really, really proud of my team and I'm really, really sad about our four seniors' season coming to an end, four great Catamount players. These two guys here (Robin Duncan and Dylan Penn) and Finn Sullivan and Kam Gibson. This will hurt a little while but it won't take away from the great year we had."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Penn sank the first basket of the game for an early lead. Marquette countered with five straight points, until a three-pointer from Veretto to tie the game at 5-5 2:59 into the contest.
• Olivier-Maxence Prosper sank a layup that sparked an 11-3 run for the Golden Eagles who took a 16-8 lead with 12:31 remaining. Marquette had four different scorers in the run, which spanned for over four minutes. The Golden Eagles were 5-for-7 from the field as they stretched out their lead.
• Aaron Deloney stopped the Marquette run with a driving layup that cut the deficit to six points. His basket kickstarted a 7-2 run for the Catamounts who pulled to within three points, down 18-15 with 10:56 left in the opening frame. Penn sank a triple from the corner that pulled Vermont to within three points.
• The Golden Eagles doubled up the Cats over the next 6:02 to take their first double-digit lead, up 31-20 with 4:54 left in the half. David Joplin scored five of Marquette's 10 points during that span.
• Veretto scored six points to help Vermont chip away at the Marquette lead. The graduate student sank three-pointers on back-to-back possessions, as the Cats pulled back to within single digits. Penn made the score 36-30 with 1:08 remaining.
• The Golden Eagles added three points in the final minute of the first half to take a 39-30 lead into the break.
• The Catamounts made four of their first seven field goals coming out of the locker room to cut the deficit to five points with 15:44 remaining. Duncan led Vermont with four points as the Cats outscored the Golden Eagles 10-6 in the early minutes.
• Kam Jones fueled an 18-6 run for Marquette, scoring all of the Golden Eagles' baskets over a 5:57 span to take a 63-46 lead with 9:47 left in the game. Jones was a perfect 7-for-7 from the field during the run.
• Marquette's lead extended to 24 points with 5:30 remaining on a layup by Oso Ighodaro that made the score 74-50.
• Ileri Ayo-Faleye scored four points down the stretch as the Catamounts brought the deficit to 17 points.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Duncan was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field to post an 11-point outing. The fifth-year senior banked in one three-pointer, and tallied five assists. Duncan finishes his career with 147 games played at Vermont, which is the most in program history.
• Veretto also scored 11 points, going 3-for-8 from beyond the arc. The graduate student registered two assists.
• Penn made 5-of-10 attempts from the floor en route to 11 points. He knocked down his lone attempt from long range. The fifth-year senior pulled in two rebounds and dished out two assists. 

McGee Automotive Group is the presenting sponsor of Vermont men's basketball