Marquette’s Jake Thomas (left) battles with St. John’s Phil Greene IV for a loose ball in the second half of Saturday’s game. Thomas finished Senior Day with 14 points. Credit: Associated Press

Game 90: March 18 2016 The Initials Game On Jeopardy
Game 90: March 18 2016 The Initials Game On Ebay
18/2016 Emmi
Game 90: March 18 2016 The Initials Game On Sunday

Marquette's regular season ended Saturday in pretty much the same way its inconsistent year played out.

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The Golden Eagles lost, 91-90, to St. John's on Senior Day as the ball ended up in their fifth option's hands on the final play of double-overtime.

Go-to guy Todd Mayo, who sent the game into overtime with a buzzer-beating shot and scored 17 of his 20 points in the second half and overtime, was not available because he had fouled out with 19.5 seconds left.

Typically, coach Buzz Williams allows his players to go against a non-established defense without the flow being interrupted by a timeout. But without Mayo to attempt another fearless shot, Williams called time with 13.9 seconds remaining to draw up the last play.

In order, the options were Davante Gardner, Jake Thomas, Jamil Wilson and Deonte Burton. Point guard Derrick Wilson, whom teams typically ignore defensively because he is a 39.2% shooter, was not in the plan. But when Jamil Wilson passed out of a double-team to Derrick Wilson, the wide-open shot from the corner had no chance.

And neither do the Golden Eagles (17-14, 9-9 Big East) for a ninth consecutive NCAA Tournament bid unless they somehow win the Big East tournament. As the No. 6 seed, they will play their first game at 8:30 p.m. Thursday at Madison Square Garden against Providence or Xavier. Code shown on your mac for text fowarding.

Absent one of the biggest shockers in conference history, Marquette would then play an NIT first-round game either Tuesday, March 18 or Wednesday, March 19 at the Al McGuire Center because the university is hosting NCAA second- and third-round games at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

Game 90: March 18 2016 The Initials Game On Jeopardy

So, for all practical purposes, Gardner, Thomas, Jamil Wilson and Chris Otule played their last real home game and will become the first Marquette senior class to miss the NCAA Tournament since 2005.

The Golden Eagles ended the regular season with three straight losses, the last two in double-overtime. They were 2-4 in extra-period games.

Regarding the last play and his decision to call time, Williams said, 'We needed the first, best basket with 13.9 seconds left. Typically we don't call a timeout. You want to play in a broken floor. But with them switching from man to zone and Todd not in the game, I wanted to choreograph it a little bit.'

Williams let his guys play at the end of regulation, when they scored six points in the last 11 seconds to tie the game.

Down, 72-66, in those final 11 ticks, the Golden Eagles seemed so out of it that Gardner (21 points) already had come off the floor to an ovation. But after two free throws, Thomas stole an inbound pass and laid the ball in.

Marquette immediately fouled Orlando Sanchez, who missed the front end of a one-and-one. Mayo, who bailed out the Golden Eagles several times this season with clutch shooting, made the buzzer-beating jumper from the lane to create overtime.

Game 90: March 18 2016 The Initials Game On Ebay

The Golden Eagles got the ball into Mayo's hands again at the end of the first overtime, but he turned the ball over.

Statistically, Marquette was lucky to be in the game at all. The Red Storm (20-11, 10-8) had 12 steals, shot 51% and had three players — Jakarr Sampson, D'Angelo Harris and Rysheed Jordan — score 20 points and likely played itself into the NCAA Tournament after beginning the Big East season 0-5.

All in all, the last regular-season shot for Marquette was very much like its disappointing year.

'Up and down,' Williams said. 'We've always hung around and fought. The only time we weren't in a game is when we were at St. John's (74-59 on Feb. 1). Then we went 5-2 over the next seven and lost the last two in double-overtime by one point.'

18/2016 Emmi

Game 90: March 18 2016 The Initials Game On Sunday

It wasn't enough.

Game 90: March 18, 2016the Initials Game