Motivated by a miss: Hare following her high school success with more at Marquette

As a Marquette freshman a year ago, Kenzie Hare learned the thrill of playing in the NCAA Tournament.

She also learned the agony of missing the game-winning shot in a 67-65 overtime first-round loss to No. 8 South Florida. It was a good look, a 3-pointer just left of the top of the key, but it rimmed out, bounding into South Florida hands.

For No. 9 seed Marquette, the tournament experience was too short.

How much did she replay that shot in her mind last summer?

“Too much. I definitely shot that shot plenty of times after that. But it’s more of like fuel now,” said Hare, who played three years at Bartlett High School before transferring to Naperville North for her senior year.

The 5-foot-9 guard played 17 minutes in that NCAA Tournament game, scoring 5 points and dishing 3 assists. She also made two free throws at the end of regulation to send the game into overtime.

But it’s that missed 3-pointer she mentions. The rest of that information you have to look up yourself.

‘I can do this’

That Hare missed a 3-point shot might come as a surprise to those who saw her play in high school. She seemed to start scoring as soon as she walked onto the court, and if she didn’t it only made opponents worried for what was waiting for them later in the game.

Hare made all-state all four high school seasons, and her stats show it was no mistake. She scored 2,494 points. Her 398 made 3-pointers are fourth in state history. She was the Upstate Eight Conference Player of the Year as a sophomore and junior, both times a unanimous vote.

As a junior she made first-team all-state, scoring 30.1 points a game with 4.2 rebounds and 2.9 steals. As a senior, she scored 20.1 points a game to go with 4.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 3.1 steals, making the all-state first team. Naperville North went 30-4 that season.

But that resume means little to college players, and Hare had to prove herself when she got to Marquette. She figured it out quickly. Hare remembers a summer scrimmage before her freshman year when she knew she’d be OK.

“I just played really well and I’m like, OK, I’m good, I can do this,” she said.

Still, the college game is different, and she had a lot to learn as a freshman.

“There’s definitely an adjustment,” the sophomore said. “Everyone says this, but the pace of the game is different. You play the whole game in high school and then you come here and you play maybe 15-20 minutes. But it’s just you’re exerting so much more energy in that time that you’re in.

“On defense there’s just so much more activity, you can’t take any play off, ever. I definitely had to adjust to that to being able to – I mean, sometimes I play 38 minutes, nowadays – so being able to kind of being able to perform all 38 minutes was definitely big for me.”

But that’s only part of it. There’s so much more.

“And then also the communication part,” Hare said. “We have high standards, which is great, so being able to communicate to your teammates, on and off the court, really, but definitely on the court we talk a lot.

“And I wasn’t real used to that. Obviously, I talked here and there, but you’ve got to be talking constantly, especially when you play a (Villanova) or Creighton. They cut a lot and they move a lot, and you’ve got to be able to call out switches, call out what’s happening. So that was another thing for me.”

Tourney time

This season has gone well for Hare and the Golden Eagles. She’s averaging 14.4 points a game with a high of 25. Marquette is 22-7, 11-7 entering Saturday’s Big East Conference Tournament quarterfinal (1:30 p.m., FS2) against No. 4-seeded Villanova, which beat fifth-seeded Marquette by 3 points both times they played in the regular season.

“Oh, we owe them one for sure,” Hare said. “Two rough ones that we should have won. Yeah, owe them.”

A win moves Marquette into the semifinals against top-seeded and ninth-ranked UConn (1:30 p.m. Sunday, FS1), which beat the Golden Eagles twice handily in the regular season.

Both foes will be ready for Hare. She knows she is on their scouting reports – mostly for her 3-point shooting, of course. Hare is tied for 11th in the nation with 84 3-pointers made, tied for 36th with 198 3-pointers attempted and 17th in 3-point percentage, 42.42%

“Usually I hear, shooter, shooter, go get her,” Hare said. “So that’s usually the one I hear. I mean, they play me really tight. All the teams go over every screen, so that’s one that I see a lot. Or sometimes they trap ball screens to try to get it out of my hands.”

Bubble up

Marquette is on the bubble to make the NCAA Tournament again this year but seems likely to get in, especially if it can turn the tables on Villanova. ESPN has Marquette as a 10 seed, a 9 seed according to The Sporting News and herhoopstats.com.

“Getting to play in it last year, I definitely was a little nervous because it’s March Madness and you’re in the bracket now and that’s pretty cool,” Hare said. “But I’m more excited than nervous this year.”

Meanwhile, Hare continues to excel in the classroom as a public relations major and sports management minor.

“I’m chasing that 4.0 this semester,” Hare said. “I had it two semesters ago. Just missed it a 4.0 last semester. I had a B+. I was mad, but definitely I’m chasing it this semester. We should be getting it.”

She talks about that B+ as if it’s a certain missed 3-pointer.

Daily Herald Sports Editor Orrin Schwarz can be reached at oschwarz@dailyherald.com.