Big East teams beware of Marquette men’s basketball.
Don’t overlook the Golden Eagles, no matter how many more losses they have than wins. This is not a squad you want to face. They are playing with house money, and they are more than capable of cashing in.
Pay heed to first-year phenom Nigel James Jr. and his partner in crime Adrien Stevens. Forget not sophomore Royce Parham, who has shaken off a rough start to the season and been a desperately needed paint presence. Remember this is still a Shaka Smart led squad, one that idolizes violent defense and will fight through every screen required to force a clank.
It can be dangerous to lose sight of all that. Just ask UConn, the No. 4 team in the country.
“When I saw the Providence road win and the way they did it,” Huskies head coach Dan Hurley said, “we were very nervous about [today].”
Nervous they should have been. For UConn learned Saturday at Fiserv Forum exactly what can happen when Marquette, despite its 12-19 and 7-13 Big East record, gets hot. It can win.
It can hold its opponents to their worst shooting performance of the season. It can limit someone in the Gampel Pavilion rafters to zero field goals for the first time in 142 appearances. It can scoff at oddsmakers and prognosticators and earn its first ranked win this season, and second-straight victory since the first week of November.
And the Golden Eagles can waltz into the Big East tournament with their heads held high and shoulders confidently square after ending the regular season with their two most inspiring performances of the season. Teams want to be playing their best basketball in March, and that is exactly what Marquette is doing.
Saturday’s 68-62 upset over the Huskies was simply more proof.
“The belief in each other, but then also in the specific components of what goes into winning that our guys can do it. We can do it,” Smart said about his team’s confidence.
“It’s been a year that, at times, we’ve been good on one end and not as good on the other end. You got to put them both together if you want to win in March.”
The Golden Eagles did that.
Marquette held UConn to 21-of-61 overall and 3-of-24 3-point shooting. It limited Huskies Alex Karaban to a tied-career-low two points (on 0-for-6 shooting), Braylon Mullins to nine (4-for-15) and Solo Ball to eight (2-for-10).
On the other side of the floor, the three pillars of the Golden Eagles’ future — James Jr. (19), Parham (13) and Stevens (11) — combined for 43 of their team’s 68 points. Chase Ross on his senior day scored 14, the cherry on top being four free throws in the final second after UConn earned two technicals and Hurley was ejected.
“This year’s UConn team is incredibly hard to guard, incredibly hard to score on, has a chance to go all the way,” Smart said. “So for our guys to stand up for 40 minutes, play with a level of toughness, not back down.
“It was really impressive that even though, down the stretch, we missed some shots and we weren’t the most efficient scoring team, we did just enough to win.”
After trailing by only two at halftime, Marquette used its defense and balanced shooting to score eight more points than UConn in the final 20 minutes.
With 14:15 remaining, Parham kickstarted an 11-0 run with eight consecutive points that put the Golden Eagles in control and provided their first lead since midway through the first half. Ten minutes later, Chase Ross gave MU its largest advantage of the day, 61-49, with back-to-back threes to force a timeout from UConn.
With three minutes to go and the Huskies clawing back, the other veteran honored pregame Ben Gold had his moment in the sun when he slammed a crucial put-back dunk, ending a two-minute stretch without a field goal.
“That was probably the basket of the game for us,” Smart said.
Ben Gold PUT-BACK SLAM 🙌@MarquetteMBB is leading No. 4 UConn late 👀 pic.twitter.com/8arKf5XVwm
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) March 7, 2026
While the Huskies made the Golden Eagles worry — and sweat and squirm and agonize and everything in between — by cutting their lead to two points with 43 seconds remaining, the blue & gold did enough to secure the victory. So many times this year have they found themselves on the losing end of games close down the stretch. Not Saturday, despite Gold’s dunk being their final basket.
“They have more belief in themselves, they have more belief in each other. They’ve gotten some reps. Obviously, got some reps that haven’t gone our way. We got some reps that have gone our way,” Smart said about his players.
“The belief has grown with each game.”
Yes, these Golden Eagles look guaranteed to finish with 20 defeats for the second time in program history. Yes, they have found new, mystifying ways to lose extremely winnable games. Yes, they still need nothing short of a miracle to make the NCAA tournament.
But, they are not the same team they were in November or December or January or February. The one that leaves their fans angry. Despondent, even, wishing only for the merciful end of a sordid season.
Instead, Marquette in March can be its opponents’ worst nightmare, leaving rival supporters the annoyed ones. UConn got a taste of that on Saturday. The rest of the Big East should be hoping they don’t next week.
“Job’s not finished yet,” Ross said. “So keep going.”
Look out Madison Square Garden.
This story was written by Jack Albright. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @JackAlbrightMU.
