With 5:20 to go and first place in the Big East on the line, No. 11 Marquette men’s basketball had a one-point lead.
The Golden Eagles did not score a field goal after that, as the Johnnies went on a 16-9 run to take control of the game from the foul line.
Ultimately, it was foul trouble, rebounding issues and the suffocating defense from St. John’s (20-3, 10-1 Big East) down the stretch that spelled disaster for the Golden Eagles (19-4, 9-3 Big East) as they fell 70-64 at Madison Square Garden in their second straight loss.
“We’re disappointed in the outcome,” Marquette head coach Shaka Smart told ESPN Milwaukee broadcasters Steve “The Homer” True and Tony Smith in a post-game radio interview. “I thought our guys’ fight gave us the opportunity to be in the game late in the game.
“There were some key plays down the stretch where we weren’t able to score, or we were not able to stop them… But you have to find a way to win anyway, and this was certainly a tough pill to swallow, but a lesson that we can take a lot from.”
It was a slow start for the Golden Eagles — their recent fatal flaw — and the Johnnies took advantage of it, going on a 9-0 run to take an early lead heading into the first media timeout.
But then Marquette’s offense got into a rhythm, going on a 13-2 run to grab a 16-11 lead. Sophomore guard Zaide Lowery contributed five of his career-high 12 points in the run, leading the way off the bench that earned 22 points. He also grabbed six rebounds.
Back to Back buckets for Zaide Lowery! pic.twitter.com/opVMiKmMQG
— Marquette Basketball (@MarquetteMBB) February 4, 2025
“He’s a guy that’s really capable,” Smart said. “I told the guys in the locker room that we don’t have a lot of guys that can jump with St. John’s. The two guys that can got a combined 14 out of our 25 rebounds.”
But despite the early slow start and being outrebounded 11-0 on the offensive glass, No. 11 Marquette was in it after the first 20 minutes, leading by one after shooting 56% from the field. Its defense also held St. John’s to zero field goals in the final 3:13.
The one blemish in the first half was the absence of senior guard Kam Jones — he picked up three fouls and scored just two points in 11 minutes of action.
In the second half, the foul trouble reared its ugly head, as Marquette was called for 17 fouls in the final frame. Jones played with four fouls for the final eight minutes, all while scoring 13 points to try and keep his team in the game.
“He got going, and that’s what we need from him,” Smart said. “Kam is one of the all-time greatest competitors and there’s no one that wants to win and loves Marquette more than Kam. At the same time, as I always tell him, you have to let go of certain things outside of your control. You have to be willing to attack it, even when you’re not guaranteed certain results…
“I thought he really did that down the stretch. He stopped worrying about fouls. He attacked more; he created some plays for others. He got the ball down in the paint and was able to score. Obviously, we certainly could have used more of that earlier from our whole team.”
BucketFamKam pic.twitter.com/HEoCZoFESH
— Marquette Basketball (@MarquetteMBB) February 5, 2025
Junior forward Ben Gold, senior guard Stevie Mitchell and senior forward David Joplin were held to a combined nine points — they combined for 13 fouls. Junior guard Chase Ross and Jones led Marquette with 16 and 15 points, respectively.
In the end, the Golden Eagles were unable to keep the Johnnies off the foul line and off the glass in the last five minutes. St. John’s scored nine of its 16 points from the charity stripe and earned 16 second chance points off 21 total offensive rebounds.
“There’s got to be more physicality below the rim in order to come up with some of those balls,” Smart said. “But St. John’s deserves a lot of credit. They played with a lot of violence. They were very aggressive on their defensive end.”
The Red Storm extended their winning streak to nine, moving to 14-0 at home. For the Golden Eagles, this was their first loss to them since 2021. MU’s tough three-game tough stretch ends in Omaha against Creighton (16-6, 9-2 Big East) Saturday.
This article was written by Kaylynn Wright. She can be reached at kaylynn.wright@marquette.edu or on Twitter/X @KaylynnWrightMU.