CLEVELAND — And just like that, Marquette men’s basketball’s season has come to an end.

The inconsistent shooting that has plagued the Golden Eagles all season reared its ugly head. The troubles they faced going up against physicality in the paint followed them to Cleveland and led to their eventual downfall.

And at the hands of the 10th-seeded New Mexico Lobos (27-6), the Golden Eagles (23-11) made costly mistakes and were overwhelmed by a late scoring run down the stretch, falling 75-66 Friday night in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.

“Congrats to New Mexico, Coach Pitino,” Marquette head coach Shaka Smart said. “I thought they won the battle of poise. They were the more poised team over the majority of the game. And then obviously, they scored way more around the basket than we did and, in the paint, made better decisions in there.”

Marquette did not get out to a hot start, hitting its first shot at the 18:23 mark before going cold from the field for over two minutes while New Mexico grabbed an early lead. 

It was junior guard Ben Gold who became the spark plug soon after, hitting back-to-back 3 pointers along with a Chase Ross triple to bring the Golden Eagles within one. That was as close as they would get in the half though, as the Lobos then responded with a 5-0 run.

New Mexico kept its lead for the remainder of the frame, getting out to its largest lead after CJ Noland netted a 3-pointer with 56 seconds to play to put his team up 35-27. However, Marquette would net five straight points to finish the first half trailing by three. The Lobos finished the first half shooting 55.3 percent (5-for-9) from beyond the arc.

The second half was a back and forth affair, and by the first media timeout, each team had scored eight points each. Then, senior forward David Joplin put MU on his shoulders and went to work.

He gave his team its first lead after hitting a 3-pointer midway through the second half, and while UNM quickly grabbed it back, he and Ross scored back-to-back baskets to put MU up 51-48. Joplin finished with a team-leading 25 points and became the program’s all-time leader in games played (139), passing Lazar Hayward (138 in 2006-10) in the loss.

DAVID JOPLIN FROM DEEP.@MarquetteMBB is cookin! pic.twitter.com/353iOqqzpS

— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 22, 2025

The game continued to go back and forth and quickly, things were tied up at 55. Then, the Lobos went on a timely 10-0 run and 12-6 overall run over five minutes to storm back and take a 67-61 lead, killing all of MU’s momentum.

“There was a couple turnovers that we just can’t have,” Smart said. “We tried to spend too much out on the floor where there’s traffic. It’s different when you’re in the paint and you’re kind of in a one-on-one matchup and you spin.

“Then Kam missed one right at the rim, Chase missed one right at the rim. I think we missed a three in there that was wide open. But more importantly, New Mexico scored.”

As the Golden Eagles continued to miss shots, the rest of the game was decided at the foul line, as the Lobos scored six of their last eight points from the charity stripe. They shot 89.4 percent (17-for-19) from there.

“We didn’t get to the foul line nearly enough,” Smart said. “When the other team makes 11 more free throws than you — obviously, some of those were late, but we had some that we certainly — if we finish them, it’s a little bit different game down the stretch and we’re not fouling. We have to do a better job of that.”

New Mexico also exploited Marquette from inside, scoring 38 points in the paint, while MU shot 44.8 percent (13-for-29) from inside the arc.

“We had some looks that we felt were pretty good that we didn’t make,” Smart said. “New Mexico did a much better job finishing in the paint than we did. We also got in the paint quite a bit and had open guys that we either weren’t able to find in a timely manner, passes got deflected, passes got stolen, or by the time the pass was made, the guy wasn’t open. But definitely a combination of things.”

Dent and Joseph — UNM’s offensive stars — combined for 40 points, scoring 26 of those in the final half.

“I thought Dent, he just did a great job controlling the game,” Smart said. “Our guys did a nice job turning him over, eight times
obviously, but on every other possession when the ball was in his hands, he did a really good job controlling the game. There’s a reason he’s talked about as one of the best point guards in the country. He was the most poised player on the floor.

“And then I thought Nelly Junior Joseph just was so impactful from the opening segment of the game all the way through because he was the most physical guys around the basket and was a domino for their team in a positive way.”

New Mexico moves onto the second round to face the winner of No. 2 Michigan State/No. 15 Bryant. However, it’s the end of the road for Marquette and its four seniors — Joplin, Kam Jones, Stevie Mitchell and Cam Brown.

“But the things I’m going to miss the most is off-the-court stuff,” Joplin said. “Yeah, we don’t have practice tomorrow. There’s not going to be no more locker room talk. But the best moments that we have are just when we’re together, just at the dorm, at our apartment hanging out, fooling around, being us, being kids, doing what we love, playing basketball every day.

“Those things I’m going to remember for the rest of my life. I’ve built relationships with these guys I’m going to have for the rest of my life.

This article was written by Kaylynn Wright. She can be reached at kaylynn.wright@marquette.edu or on Twitter/X @KaylynnWrightMU. 

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