Marquette men’s basketball (9-17, 4-11 Big East) has been — for lack of a better term — a homebody, for almost a year now.

When the Golden Eagles topped Xavier on March 13 last year at Madison Square Garden in the Big East tournament quarterfinals, nobody thought another 340+ days would pass before they’d win outside of Fiserv Forum again.

However, 10 road and two neutral site losses later here Marquette stands, 0-12 on courts not named after Al McGuire.

But aside from suffering losses to Villanova and the Musketeers last week, there is still plenty of silver lining to examine in a season that by winning percentage, is lining up to be MU’s first under .400 since 1990-91.

Here are some takeaways from the winless week:

Royce Parham is becoming a star

If the college basketball season would have started a month ago, not only would sophomore Royce Parham be a serious contender to be named a first team All-Big East selection, but he’d have a case for an All-American candidacy too.

Over his last eight games, the Pittsburgh native is averaging 18 points on an absurdly efficient 66% shooting from the field. Parham is also pulling down 5.6 rebounds per game during that stretch, and is coming off of back-to-back double-doubles last week, the firsts of his career.

He’s also been getting it done on the defensive side of the ball, tallying 1.8 blocks per game.

“I like Royce’s confidence and his aggressiveness right now,” Marquette head coach Shaka Smart said after the Golden Eagles’ win over Creighton Jan. 27.

Parham nearly willed Marquette to its first road victory of the season on Tuesday with his career-high 26-point, 11-rebound performance in Philadelphia. The Golden Eagles were widely competitive with the Wildcats through the first 36 minutes before falling short in the final 3-plus minutes.

His career night was hampered by calf cramps towards the end, which limited both his mobility and playing time.

Four days later, the 6-foot-8 forward followed up his career-best performance with another strong outing in Cincinnati, scoring 24 points and grabbing 10 boards in the loss.

All in all, Parham averaged 25 points and 10.5 rebounds on the week.

Road struggles mask some underlying improvements

The Golden Eagles have often been on the wrong side of games that come down to the final few possessions this season, a sentiment reinforced by some of their latest road results.

Four of Marquette’s last five road losses have come by eight points or fewer. On Jan. 16, the Golden Eagles fell by five at DePaul in a game where they led by as much as 11. On Jan. 31, MU lost by five at Seton Hall in a match that was tied with under two minutes to play. Nearly two weeks later on Feb. 10, Marquette lost by three at Villanova, and then by eight at Xavier on Saturday.

While none of those stats will make MU’s conference record look any better, it does illustrate that it is in games until the very end, in large part thanks to its improved offensive efficiency.

Marquette only shot better than 42% from the field three times during its non-conference schedule, all of which came in buy games. The Golden Eagles’ offense would hum at times, but completely fizzle out at others.

But over the last eight games, MU is shooting 50.2% from the field. That is up nine percentage points from the 40.8% that it shot in the previous 16 games.

The Golden Eagles have also been much more effective from beyond the arc over the past eight games, shooting 37.8% as a team. In keeping with the trending theme, it’s no surprise that number is up from the 29.9% Marquette shot over its first 16 games.

The Golden Eagles have become much more efficient on offense, leading to more competitive bouts on the road and a even three game win streak at home. They have a ways to go on defense, but with the emergence of first-year guards Nigel James Jr., Adrien Stevens and Parham, a clear core of young players has begun its formation.

What’s on tap?

Marquette’s aforementioned three-game home win streak will be put to the test when No. 17 St. John’s comes to town on Wednesday. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. CST.

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