After senior guard Chase Ross hit his first field goal of the game with 3:15 to play, Marquette men’s basketball was sitting pretty. The Golden Eagles (9-16, 4-10 Big East) led 72-66, and finally looked like they might get their first road win since March 1, 2025.
Emphasis on might.
Villanova (19-5, 10-3) went on an 11-2 run in the final minutes of the game to keep MU winless away from Fiserv Forum this season, sending the Golden Eagles — who are now 0-11 outside of their home arena — home with a 77-74 loss on Tuesday night.
“Villanova was the better team in the last three and a half minutes of the game,” head coach Shaka Smart said during his postgame radio interview. “There’s a lot of plays on both ends we’d like to have back, but our guys put us in position to win.
“It’s just a tough pill to swallow, we got a lot of young guys out there, we just have to learn these lessons of ‘It’s a small margin out there, and you have to have certain details that have to be there in order to win.’”
Marquette trailed 20-9 early after a sloppy start that saw it turn the ball over five times in the opening 10 minutes of the game. However, a 23-16 run over the next 10 minutes would send the Golden Eagles into the locker room trailing 36-32.
The Golden Eagles had more turnovers (11) than made field goals (10) in the first 20 minutes.
“We had way too many turnovers in the first half,” Smart said.
Villanova grabbed 10 offensive rebounds and turned those into nine second chance points. The Wildcats went just 4-of-9 from the free throw line, a big reason Marquette was able to hang around.
The Golden Eagles came out of the gates in the second frame on a 7-2 run to take a 39-38 lead. It was their first lead since the score was 4-3 early in the first half.
Sophomore forward Royce Parham scored 10 of Marquette’s first 17 points in the second half. The Pittsburgh native had his best game of his young career with the blue & gold at Finneran Pavilion, finishing with a career-high 26 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the field, also nailing his only 3-point attempt. Parham also grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds.
The Golden Eagles’ largest lead came with 6:13 to play when senior forward Ben Gold splashed a triple to extend the lead to 66-57. Less than two minutes later, after a pair of 3-pointers from junior guard Tyler Perkins and another from first-year forward Matthew Hodge, the game was tied at 66. Timeout Marquette.
Back-to-back treys from Gold and senior guard Chase Ross out of the timeout put the blue & gold back up six points with 3:15 remaining, but from there the Golden Eagles would only score once more. Marquette finished the game 1-for-4 from the field in the final minutes with first-year guard Nigel James Jr. turning the ball over twice.
“Down the stretch, we had a lack of poise,” Smart said. “[Villanova] took a one-point lead, and there’s a couple minutes left but we’re playing like there is 10 seconds left. Sometimes that goes along with youth, but that’s who we have in the game. So, it’s on us to make sure we play better poise and learn from it. I’m sure we will.”
The Golden Eagles finished with 18 turnovers, the third most they’ve had in a game this season. The Wildcats’ 17 offensive rebounds are tied for the third most the blue & gold have allowed this season.
“You can’t have the 18 turnovers,” Smart said. “And I thought they hurt us just enough on the offensive glass to stay connected while we were trying to extend the lead.”
Marquette will travel to Cincinnati for a Valentine’s Day date with Xavier (12-12, 4-9) at Cintas Center. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. CST.
This story was written by Matthew Baltz. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @MatthewBaltzMU.
