By

In the 68-65 loss to Xavier in the Big East tournament quarterfinals Thursday night, freshman Deonte Burton had a career-high 23 points by the 7:15 mark in the second half. Marquette was down by three points. He was either scoring on Xaiver or getting fouled.

Then he didn't come off the bench for virtually the rest of the game.

He wasn't in foul trouble.

Coach Buzz Williams said it was because of Burton's defense.

"I thought we got him some good looks," Williams said. "I thought our interior guys, particuarly Deonte and (Davante) Gardner, I thought they played really well in the channel. but I think Xavier, their perimeter guys got into the channel too often."

Guard Semaj Christon had 19 points, many of them on drives to the basket.

But as Marquette prepares for the NIT at 17-15, fans will wonder why Burton and Todd Mayo (21 points) didn't play more this year. Gardner, Jamil Wilson and Jake Thomas were fairly invisible against the Musketeers.

Mayo had a chance to tie the game, but missed a three-pointer.

"I wanted it to be a little cleaner," Williams said. "We were trying to get Jamil open to run one of our side-out plays that have a few different options. We didn't necessarily have to have a three there. But when he didn't get open, Todd was about to fall out of bounds. We would have wanted to get a cleaner look."

So now it's on to the NIT for the first time in nine years.

The first game would be played Tuesday or Wednesday. If Marquette gets a home game, it would have to play in the Al McGuire Center because the BMO Harris Bradley Center will be taken over by the NCAA Tournament.

My guess is Marquette would play Green Bay in the first round. The Resch Center is available, so it is possible the Golden Eagles could play up there.

Williams said he didn't know if the NIT was was lock.

"I hope," he said. "That's the thing. I see it from a different lens. Part of it is because I think I'm getting old. Part of it is because I look at it from a different perspective. I turn on the TV and it's like . . . 'They're going to the NIT.' And I'm going, well, 'How many teams are in the NIT? I hope that we go to the NIT and I mean that sincerely. I would like us to keep playing, but as I've told my guys, in my career as a head coach, I haven't been to the NIT. So, does anybody know how that works? Sincerely."

Somebody explained the process to him.

"That's what's so strange to me. I'm not sure the people who say you're NIT-bound understand there are eight automatic (NCAA) qualifiers left," he said.

The Golden Eagles are on a seaon-high four-game losing streak. They have also lost four consecutive Big East tournament games.

It's a downer they way they are ending the season. But they need to play at least one more to get players like Burton ready for next year.