NEW YORK — Marquette men’s basketball’s season ended Wednesday evening inside Madison Square Garden with an 89-87 loss to Xavier, and the way it transpired felt like a perfect snapshot of the entire year.
The Golden Eagles fought back from a double-digit deficit, tied the game late and still watched it slip away in the final minute. An emotional fight coming to a close in frustrating fashion, exactly how much of this season has felt.
Sitting at the post-game press conference podium, Shaka Smart did not dance around the team’s struggles. The offensive and defensive inconsistencies. The late-game jitters. The lack of depth and the over-reliance on youth. He admitted to it all.
“Our guys showed incredible fight when we got down 10 to bring us back,” Smart said. “But sometimes we looked like a really young team that needed to gain toughness and needed to gain a defensive identity. When we had that identity, we were really tough to beat. This year just wasn’t consistent enough.”
That inconsistency has been the theme for months. A few mystifying minutes of downright putrid play — chock-full of fouls, turnovers and defensive breakdowns — would erase Marquette’s stretches of connected and sharp play. The Golden Eagles at their best were capable of beating No. 4 UConn during their final regular season game. Their worst version showed up at the wrong times more than once, like Wednesday night.
Still, amid his mea culpa, Smart pointed out Marquette surged late and has a clear path forward this offseason via Nigel James Jr., Adrien Stevens and Royce Parham.
“The program would be in good hands with Adrien, Nigel and Royce returning,” senior guard Chase Ross agreed. “With those guys coming back, it’ll be a special thing for Marquette next year.”
While those three are the lynchpins, what pieces fit around them is a bigger question. Smart has made it clear he is “evolving” his transfer strategies after three years of spurning the portal, a point he reaffirmed in the bowels of Madison Square Garden.
“We’re not done,” the Golden Eagles’ fifth year head coach said. “We will keep evolving, and we’re going to make sure we have more depth.”
Marquette has one open roster spot after Zaide Lowery left the program in December, and more seem likely with departures of other current players. Big man Caedin Hamilton and junior guard Tre Norman never developed into players worthy of consistent Big East minutes and could very well exit the team.
But, in keeping with growth — one of Smart’s three hallmarks — there will not be a full roster overhaul. Players like first-year Michael Phillips II and sophomore Damarius Owens will be competing for larger roles, along with the three redshirts in Ian Miletic, Sheek Pearson and Nash Walker. Not to mention incoming class of 2026 recruits Alex Egbuono and Ethan Johnston.
The positives for Marquette are James Jr. confirming his return next season, and Stevens’ and Parham’s development.
“You don’t want to necessarily determine your rotation for next year, but over the next couple months we do have to determine our roster,” Smart said.
“We will still have a lot of young guys next year and that’s why, for me, the coaching staff, for these guys, the number one thing over the next several months is growth.”
Smart has had mixed results in that department over five years. Multi-year projects like Keeyan Itejere and Al Amadou transferred after failing to pan out, but Tyler Kolek, Oso Ighodaro and Kam Jones all became program leaders and were drafted to the NBA.
Smart referred to the latter trio’s growth as paramount to the Golden Eagles’ success and an ideal model for the program to follow this offseason.
“Exactly what they did is what these guys need to do,” Smart said.
But that is easier said than done, and Smart has his most crucial offseason since being hired by Marquette in order to avoid another year of despondency.
“I would say as of now just to focus on the guys’ continued growth and development,” he said. “What goes into winning doesn’t change. As a group, these guys as they get older and they get tougher and they get sturdier, (they get to) be more consistent with all those things.
“So what I know to do is roll up my sleeves and once we get back together, as it relates to our team and growing, there’s a lot of basketball areas and even cultural areas where in a game like tonight we can be better. And it’s exciting.”
This story was written by Grace Stauder. She can be reached at [email protected].
