The No. 18-ranked Marquette team is determined to put an end to their ongoing losing streak as they prepare to face off against DePaul in a highly anticipated Big East matchup set to take place on Tuesday in Milwaukee. Marquette, with a record of 18-6 overall and 9-4 in the Big East, recently faced a setback with their third consecutive loss, a 77-67 defeat at the hands of Creighton. Despite a stellar 27-point performance by Kam Jones, the Golden Eagles were unable to secure a victory. This loss, coupled with a 70-64 defeat against conference leaders St. John’s earlier in the week, led to Marquette dropping seven spots in the latest AP Top 25 poll.
On the other side, DePaul (11-13 overall, 2-11 in the Big East) also faced a defeat, losing 59-49 at home to Villanova. This marked the Blue Demons’ ninth loss in their last 11 games. When Marquette faced Creighton, they found themselves trailing 43-36 at halftime, managing to close the gap to 67-65 and eventually 70-67 with less than two minutes remaining, but were unable to make critical stops in the final minutes.
Marquette’s head coach Shaka Smart expressed disappointment, stating, “Second game in a row on the road where we put ourselves in a position during the last media timeout. One-possession game… didn’t play well enough down the stretch.” The trio of Jones, David Joplin, and Stevie Mitchell combined for 59 of Marquette’s 67 points, with the team shooting just 36.1% from the field and connecting on only 11 of 36 attempts from beyond the arc.
Jones leads Marquette with an average of 19.2 points per game, while Joplin contributes 14.4 points and has made 52 three-pointers, the most on the team. Mitchell adds an additional 11.4 points per game. Marquette boasts an average of 77.6 points scored and allows 67.9 points per game. They lead the nation in turnover margin (plus-7.2) and rank sixth in steals with an average of 10 per game.
Having suffered three consecutive losses in the Big East for the first time since the beginning of the 2021-22 season, Smart emphasized the need for unity during challenging times, stating, “When that happens, you really have to come together and help each other overcome the challenges associated with losing. But at the same time, own all the details associated with losing.”
DePaul struggled with their shooting against Villanova, managing to convert only 30.8% of their field goals and hitting just 7 of 36 attempts from three-point range. The Blue Demons scored a mere two points in the final
