Week two of the season was one of opposite tales for Marquette men’s basketball.

There was the first part against Little Rock, where the Golden Eagles (3-2) floundered for 10 minutes, then dominated for the remaining 30.

Then, there was the latter part of the story. A portion that left Marquette with more questions than answers. Maryland came to Milwaukee Saturday and delivered the Golden Eagles’ first nonconference home loss in nearly three years.

Here are some thoughts from the week that was:

Struggles down low continue to persist — on both ends

Through the first five contests of the season Marquette has given up an average of 32.4 points per game in the paint.

Ceding an average 30.6 points in the paint against Albany, Southern and Little Rock, that number goes up to 35 against their two high-major foes in Indiana and Maryland.

Marquette’s defense has struggled in all facets against its two high-major opponents, giving up an average of 94.5 points per game, compared to the refined 61.3 its given up to its buy game opponents.

“Our program is predicated on guys stepping forward,” head coach Shaka Smart said Saturday after the loss. “I got to do a better job helping those guys do that, helping them understand we don’t have a choice but to step forward. Everyone is in a new role, everyone has more demands on them.

“We’re going to watch that tape, and we’re going to see a lot of possessions where we just weren’t in a good enough stance, where we didn’t communicate at a high enough level, where we weren’t in the right position. Those things are fixable, those things are controllable.”

Marquette has also had its issues at the rim on the offensive side of the rock this season. The Golden Eagles are just 62-for-112 (55%) on layups through five games, contributing to their 52.4 % 2-point percentage — tied for 152nd in the nation.

Additionally, Marquette’s effective field goal percentage — which is tallied by adding the number of made 2-point field goals and 1.5 times the number of made 3-point field goals, and then dividing that total by the total number of field goal attempts — is a mere 50.3%, which ranks 180th in the country according to T-Rank.

What is going on with Damarius Owens?

Marquette’s sophomore class has had a little bit of everything this season.

There’s been the breakout of 6-foot-8 forward Royce Parham, who’s leading the team in offensive rebounds (13) while also pacing the bench in scoring (8.2 points per game).

The Golden Eagles have also seen the struggles of forward Damarius Owens persist, who is averaging just four points a game while shooting 31% from deep.

Owens, a former four star recruit, showcased his versatility on the offensive end of the floor last season, scoring a career-high 14 points against Stonehill and adding another 11 points a week later on the road against a top-five opponent in Iowa State.

The Rochester, New York, native, had surgery on his groin in the spring, leading to his offseason being shortened. He returned to practice in mid-July, but has struggled for Marquette this season, posting a -27 plus/minus across the 49 minutes he’s played.

“It’s time for him to go after it,” Smart said on Saturday after Owens finished -11 with zero points against the Terrapins. “He had a phenomenal practice [Friday], the best practice he’s had in quite some time, and that’s why I gave him more opportunity today.

“Right now, he just seems like he’s a half step behind. We’ve got to get his aggressiveness ramped up somehow, some way.”

Forward Caedin Hamilton, who is a sophomore by eligibility, has seen his first season as a starter have its peaks and valleys.

Having started in all five games this year, Hamilton leads the team in field goal percentage (52.9%) blocks (4), but he has also finished two games — including the loss to Maryland — with zero shot attempts. And, he’s struggled to take care of the ball at times, committing seven turnovers thus far, placing him in a tie for the second-highest mark on the team.

What’s on tap?

Marquette welcomes Dayton (3-1) to Fiserv Forum at 6:30 p.m. CST on Wednesday for the second leg of a home-and-home series. The Flyers took down the Golden Eagles 71-63 at UD Arena last year.

After that, Marquette hosts Central Michigan at 1 p.m. CST on Saturday.

This story was written by Matthew Baltz. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @MatthewBaltzMU.