No. 9 Marquette men’s basketball (9-2) was given quite the wake up call Saturday night. Relinquishing a 13 point lead and giving up 46 paint points in an eventual 71-63 loss to then-unranked Dayton.
The last time the Golden Eagles had symbols crashed in their face this hard in the regular season was just under a year ago in their 69-62 loss against conference foe, Butler — a team that would eventually get bounced in the first round of the NIT.
So, who is more fitting than Butler (7-4) to be Marquette’s conference lid-lifter opponent Wednesday night?
Learning from losses
If Marquette wants to play a strong 40 minutes of basketball, it’s going to have focus on the defensive end of the court. In the Golden Eagles’ games against Dayton and Iowa State, its two losses this season, steals have been hard to come by and opponent’s paint points abundant. During both of these matchups, Marquette — who is 10th in the nation in steals per game at 10.4 — could only manage a measly four.
Flyer guard Malachi Smith put the Golden Eagles’ defensive failure on full display during Dayton’s comeback when he broke past three bodies for an easy layup.
Another One
#GoFlyers pic.twitter.com/0fvCA3O0gS
— Dayton Basketball (@DaytonMBB) December 15, 2024
Though, there’s one hope when the Golden Eagles’ pedestal-worthy defense falls apart: bench player scoring. Against the Cyclones, after junior guard Chase Ross was sidelined with an ankle injury, Marquette went on a 10-0 scoring run without letting Iowa State score for three minutes. This was fueled by the efficient double-digit scoring of first-years Royce Parham (17) and Damarius Owens’ (11).
“We have to continue to build our bench,” Marquette head coach Shaka Smart said earlier this season. “We have to continue to build an understanding that when you come off the bench, there has to be a singular focus on helping your team get stops and being, as we say, ‘in the circle.’ Which is when you’re at your best in terms of your mentality and your approach.”
At Dayton, when the bench guys were needed most because of senior guard Kam Jones’ foul trouble, they never made a peep—making the upset that much easier for the Flyers.
The Bulldogs have something to brag about
Butler is coming off their third straight loss after taking on Houston, North Dakota State and Wisconsin.
In these past three games, the Bulldogs have shot just 36 precent from the field while averaging only 64.3 points per game. Though, despite Houston having the third least opponent points per game in the nation and Wisconsin having been ranked No. 20, the Dawgs are still shooting the same as Marquette from beyond the arc (.336).
These Sourmugs have three players that are shooting over 40 percent from 3-point land while having attempted more than 20 this season: Jahmyl Telfort (.425), Kolby King (.458) and Patrick McCaffery (.470). Marquette only has one in Jones (41.2 percent).
Though, Telfort uncharacteristically went 1-for-5 from deep in their most recent match against the Badgers.
One of Butler’s biggest assets in the offensive paint this season has been 7’1″ center, Andre Screen. Once he gets a pass down low, there’s not much a mismatch can do to stop him.
SCREEN rocks the rim
pic.twitter.com/NHqfSikE5i
— Butler Basketball (@ButlerMBB) December 14, 2024
Screen leads the team with 20 offensive rebounds and six rebounds per game this season. Marquette will also see glass-cleaning trouble from King (5.1 RPG) and Pierre Brooks II (5 RPG).
A view of the Big East landscape
The Golden Eagles were voted to finish fourth in the Big East preseason coach’s poll, but its talons are currently holding onto first in the conference based on overall record.
Here are the current standings of the three teams elected to finish ahead of Marquette back in October:
1st – UConn (8-3): No. 11 in the AP Poll with their three losses all coming to then-unranked teams during the Maui Invitational.
2nd – Creighton (7-4): Only received 12 votes in the AP Poll this past week. The Bluejays dethroned No. 1 Kansas on Dec. 4 but lost to No. 4 Alabama by eight points last Saturday.
3rd – Xavier (8-3): Have yet to play a ranked opponent this season and received losses from Cincinnati, TCU and Michigan.
The rest of the Big East standings can be viewed here.
How to follow the game
Tipoff against the Bulldogs is on Wednesday, December 18 at 8 p.m. CST in Milwaukee.
Watch: FS1 will carry the national television broadcast, with Jeff Levering (play-by-play) and LaPhonso Ellis (analyst) on call.
Live updates: Follow @MatthewBaltzMU and @MUWireSports on Twitter/X.
Listen: 94.5 ESPN Milwaukee and Sirius XM.
This preview was written by Ben Hanson. He can be reached at benjamin.hanson@marquette.edu or on Twitter/X @benhansonMU.