Super Novak’s performance too much for Panthers

MILWAUKEE – In the second minute of Saturday night’s game between Pitt and Marquette, Golden… MILWAUKEE – In the second minute of Saturday night’s game between Pitt and Marquette, Golden Eagles forward Steve Novak located an open spot in the corner.

Bumping off a screen, he hustled to the area, set his feet, took in a pass from Joe Chapman and swished in a jumper for his and Marquette’s first points of the night.

He was just heating up.

In the first meeting between the two teams, Pitt held the 6-foot-10 senior to just eight points. Second time around, however, things didn’t go quite as well for the Panther defense.

“They set better screens,” Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon said of Novak getting more open looks. “We were running into more screens than we were last game. For whatever reason, we were hitting the screens head on.”

“We just didn’t do as good of a job defensively there.”

His teammates set the screens, and Novak did them the favor of delivering the offense.

He connected on 44 percent (8-for-18) of his shots, including a 5-for-13 clip from beyond the arc en route to a 27-point performance in Marquette’s 84-82 upset of the No. 9-ranked Panthers.

“I have guys telling me to shoot the ball, and coaches telling me to be confident and strong,” Novak said of his aggressiveness. “Being around guys who all they care about is winning and have the confidence in me makes it easy.”

Of his 27 points, none came at a more crucial time than his last two free throws with 11.9 seconds remaining in the game.

With Pitt down one at 81-80, Aaron Gray missed on two chances from the line to tie the game. In an attempt to stop the clock, Antonio Graves fouled Novak, sending him to the line.

Already perfect on four attempts, the crowd of 19,007 – the largest crowd to ever see a college basketball game in the state of Wisconsin – felt comfortable and silenced as Novak took a few dribbles.

Novak sank both, continuing a streak of stellar free-throw shooting in which he’s only missed one since the second half of a game against DePaul on Jan. 20, 2005.

“We like to have the ball in his hands,” Marquette head coach Tom Crean said of Novak’s ability on the line. “He’s missed one free throw in 14 months.”

Novak entered the game as a 93.1-percent career shooter from the free-throw line, placing him in the Marquette record books as the school’s all-time leader in that category. His 6-for-6 showing Saturday night pushed his current streak to 30 straight free throws without a miss.

Outside of the arc, Novak was just as lethal.

His 3-point shooting throughout the game put and kept Marquette in position to secure a win.

Just before Novak’s free throws, Pitt’s Carl Krauser recorded a play for the highlight reel. He drove the baseline, went in for a layup but got too far underneath the basket.

On a last ditch effort, he switched hands in mid-air and kissed the ball off the glass with his left hand from behind the hoop, bringing the Panthers within one point and igniting the bench in the process.

The good feelings didn’t last long.

Moments later, on the ensuing possession, Novak rolled off another screen on the right wing and showed off his quick release, shooting a 3-pointer over Graves’ outstretched arm.

The capacity crowd, all on its feet, deafened any noise coming from the Pitt bench as the ball swished in yet again for Novak – Marquette’s single season record holder for 3-point field goals made.

In the end, however, his free throws and Pitt’s lack thereof proved enough to seal the Panthers’ fate.

“It’s amazing how it’s such a fine line in being very happy for a win or being disappointed,” Dixon said. “They made the free throws, Novak hit big ones and we didn’t.

“They miss a couple and we make a couple and it’s a whole different game.”