Marquette squares off against No. 4-seed Syracuse on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. with a trip to the Final Four at stake. Neither team has made it that far since 2003. Here’s a look at the Golden Eagles’ journey through the Tournament and who got them to this point:

March 21

Marquette 59, Davidson 58

Up by four with 20.2 seconds to go, No. 14-seed Davidson was on the verge of upsetting No. 3-seed Marquette. But Jamil Wilson drained a 3 to cut the deficit to one with just 10 ticks left. After Davidson’s De’Mon Brooks threw the ball out of bounds, Vander Blue blew past Jake Cohen and converted a game-winning left-handed layup in the final second. Blue paced the Golden Eagles with 16 points, while Chris Otule contributed 11 points and 11 rebounds.

March 23

Marquette 74, Butler 72

Marquette came away with a down-to-the-wire victory once again, this time knocking off No. 6-seed Butler. Blue’s performance against Davidson was just a preview for what would come against the Bulldogs. He torched Butler with 29 points, including a 3-pointer with 1:25 to go to tie the game at 69. The Golden Eagles shot 85.2 percent from the free-throw line, escaping danger for good when Butler’s Andrew Smith lost his footing and his shot clanked off the buzzer as time expired.

March 28

Marquette 71, Miami 61

The Golden Eagles’ toughest test on paper was anything but in reality. After eking out two wins, Marquette had its most complete game of the Tournament, outplaying the No. 2-seed Hurricanes from start to finish. Marquette shot a sizzling 54 percent from the field, while limiting favored Miami to just 34.9 percent shooting overall and 30.8 percent from beyond the arc. Jamil Wilson led the Golden Eagles with 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting. After taking a 13-point lead heading into halftime, Davante Gardner and Co. never looked back as the lead ballooned to as much as 22. With the win the Golden Eagles advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2003 when Dwyane Wade carried them to the Final Four.

Published on March 29, 2013 at 4:28 pm

Contact Trevor: tbhass@syr.edu | @TrevorHass