With one second half under-the-basket make, Marquette men’s basketball appeared to be keeping its home win streak alive.

As the clock read 11:55, Nigel James Jr. hit a layup that simultaneously defied gravity and physics — and nearly reality — to give the Golden Eagles their largest lead of the night and force the Red Storm to call their third timeout.

Fiserv Forum was the loudest it had been all night, and it seemed Marquette would complete a comeback to upset the No. 17 ranked team in the midst of an 11-game win streak.

But, just as quickly as they gained the lead, the Golden Eagles lost it, before falling 76-70 on the night.

After James Jr.’s layup, Marquette went over two minutes without scoring, while St. John’s rattled nine in a row to get back in front. While the Golden Eagles did eventually score, the Red Storm still pieced together a 14-3 run in around four minutes to lead 67-61 with 6:16 to go.

By the time Adrien Stevens gave Marquette hope with a 3-pointer with 1:01 remaining, the Golden Eagles had only scored one basket in over five minutes and trailed 71-66.

Marquette continued to make everyone in Fiserv believe, getting it to a two-point game, 72-70, with an and-one with 27 seconds remaining. St. John’s did not score a basket for the final three and a half minutes, but, in order to win, it did not need to, going 5-of-6 from the free throw line in the final minute.

Bryce Hopkins led St. John’s with 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting, also earning a double-double with 10 rebounds. Zuby Ejiofor was held to 10 points, making only three of his 10 attempts.

James Jr. finished with a game-high 25 points, while Royce Parham — who battled foul trouble throughout the second half — had 13 to his name.

This story was written by Jack Albright. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @JackAlbrightMU.