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Trent Johnson's questionable ejection from today's Stanford/Marquette game could have sunk Stanford's season, but the team's two best players simply wouldn't allow it to happen. The Brothers Lopez combined for 48 of Stanford's 82 points in their overtime win over Marquette, including Brook Lopez's difficult leaner with 1.3 seconds left that gave the Cardinal the win.

Referee Curtis Shaw's ejection of Johnson had a huge effect on this game, although it's difficult to say who was given the bigger edge. The Cardinal got a lot of calls in the second half of this game, which gave them 20 free throws (in comparison to three for Marquette) in the second half. The twins certainly force their fair share of fouls in any game, but this large disparity suggests that the referee's might have made some makeup calls after the break.

Then again, Trent Johnson might have made some better coaching decisions in this game than the ones by assistant Doug Oliver. With Stanford up six points with 11:18, Oliver sat both Brook and Robin Lopez for the next 4:18. When they returned, Marquette had a one-point lead. Now, the decision to take them out was probably a good one given that they seemed on the verge of picking up technical fouls (and Robin had already picked up one of them), but sitting them for so long turned the momentum back to the Golden Eagles. It's tempting to think that Johnson would have brought at least one of them back sooner.

Stanford also got a big game from point guard Mitch Johnson, who finished with nine points, 16 assists, and just one turnover against Marquette's impressive pressure defense. Most of those assists came on basic entry passes into the big guys, but Johnson and the coaching staff deserve credit for knowing the team's strengths and forcing the ball inside on nearly every late possession.

Marquette played a great game themselves, getting an absolutely fantastic performance from Jerel McNeal. His 30 points (13/25 FG) kept the Golden Eagles on the edge of victory when the Lopezes took over. Dominic James had one of his characteristically inconsistent shooting nights (4/16 FG), but he made up for it with 10 assists. This is a junior-laden team that could end up as one of the better teams in the Big East next season.