AMES, Iowa — Marquette men’s basketball needed its defense to be at its best. With the most violence. The most aggressiveness. The most havoc. The most “Shaka Smart.”
That’s what it takes to stop No. 6 Iowa State, whose Cyclones nickname isn’t simply a mascot but also an apt description for its high-octane, free-flowing, 4th-most efficient offense.
A stout defense is what’s vaulted No. 5 Marquette (8-1) to new, historic heights. What’s allowed it to squash — nay, demolish — past preseason prognostications. It’s what has led it to silence rowdy road environments and walk away with hard-earned victories.
And in Wednesday night’s meaty all-top-10 matchup in front of the rowdiest of rowdy crowds, the Golden Eagles were only going to go as far as their defense allowed.
For the entire 40 minutes, the game followed that exact course before ending in an 81-70 defeat.
“From our standpoint, not enough violence, not enough assertive aggressiveness,” Smart said. “Allowed them to be the team that played with more force. Not enough deflections.”
First, the start, a banged up Marquette (8-1) looking banged up as ever, going into the locker room down 46-37, having gone the equivalent of walking to the end of the driveway, let alone getting on the freeway. The Golden Eagles lived with only one steal — exactly 11.4 less than its nation-leading average of 12.4 per game. They forced the Cyclones to commit a lowly three turnovers, and scored an even lowlier zero points off them. They amassed nine deflections, well away from reaching their goal of 32 every game.
Iowa State was getting anything and everything in the paint, while Marquette’s was defense quiet as can be. The Cyclones went into the break having posted a 64.3% clip from the field (18-for-28), also going 57.1% from beyond the arc (4-for-7).
And to add even more injury to the Golden Eagles’ already short bench, Chase Ross, their by-far deflection leader, went down with an ankle injury with seven and some minutes remaining in the period, leaving his status in the air for both the rest of the game and future games. Before the second half, the program announced Ross would not return and he spent the remaining 20 minutes with a boot on his left foot.
“We’re going to check it out when we go back,” Smart said about Ross’ injury.
Then, a flip. Marquette rebounded from the loss of Ross and did so with that trademark prognostication-demolishing violence. The all-knowing deflection white board read a much more impressive 21. The Cyclones failed to convert a basket for more than three minutes. The Golden Eagles erased a 13-point deficit and tied it all, 61-61, in the process scoring 10 unanswered points.
On the Smart Violence Meter, the Golden Eagles were far closer to acceptable than they were in the first 20 minutes. Both the scoreboard and the quiet Coliseum showed it.
“When we came back and tied the game,” Smart said, “that was the way that we intended to play for 40 minutes.”
But the steam, which first-years Royce Parham and Damarius Owens’ efficient scoring, coupled with Kam Jones’ shooting awakening kept chuffing far into the second half, ran out.
Iowa State’s Keshon Gilbert went to the line after a questionable call on Stevie Mitchell, sunk both free throws, followed it up with a jumper and spurred a 14-0 Cyclones’ run, putting the game out of reach for good with a 75-61 advantage with 3:36 remaining.
“They were surgical with their aggressiveness and their ability to stretch us out and then get in the paint,” Smart said. “Did a good job finishing.”
The Golden Eagles finished Wednesday with a season-low four steals, and only five points stemming from 12 turnovers. They were also outscored 42-30 in the paint.
Parham led the way with a team-high 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting, and fellow first-year Owens scored 11, both youngsters hitting three 3-pointers in the process. Jones, he who became the conquering king had been found to be just a man, missing many of what have been, this year, automatic — almost inevitable — layups en route to 14 points with a season-low 6-of-21 clip.
Gilbert tied a season-most 24 points on the night to lead Iowa State. He was backed by a trio of double-digit scorers in Joshua Jefferson (15), Curtis Jones (14) and Dishon Jackson (11).
“They mixed it around so it wasn’t just one guy,” Smart said. “Gilbert, obviously, was if you had to pick one.
“I thought Jefferson and (Dishon) Jackson did a great job attacking and even some of the guys off the bench.”
Hilton, known for its deafening crowds, could only be described as such. The 14,000 Cyclone psychos donned in white, many of whom waited outside in single-digit weather with 40 mph gusts and negative degree wind chill for two hours before tip, let the noise bounce off the the Coliseum’s low ceiling and echo to a piercing degree.
The game in which everything was accompanied by its adversary, everyone by their foe — from backcourt vs. backcourt to the coach who recruits Wisconsin vs. the coach who is from Wisconsin all the way to a formidable opponent for Hilton Magic in the Maui Hangover — ended with the Magic, and Cyclones, on top.
“We showed throughout those first 11 minutes of the second half that we were the more aggressive team,” Owens said outside Marquette’s locker room. “I feel like if we could’ve sustained that, the game would have went differently.
“It’s another thing we can learn from and get better from for Saturday.”
So home the further-hampered Golden Eagles went, the sour taste of the season’s first defeat replacing the sweet tang of victory and milkshakes, and a quick rinse required as they have their annual bout against in-state rival No. 11 Wisconsin in three quick sleeps Saturday at 12:30 p.m. CST at Fiserv Forum.
This article was written by Jack Albright. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @JackAlbrightMU.
