There were a pair of plays towards the end of the first half of Marquette’s 96-76 loss to Wisconsin on Saturday that summed up the day — and probably season — perfectly.
First, it was senior guard Chase Ross inexplicably losing control of the ball on the front end attempt of a pair of free throws that he would miss. Then, it was redshirt junior guard Sean Jones tripping over his own feet while racing up the floor with the ball and turning it over, before he committed a foul 70-feet from the basket.
Most everything that could’ve gone wrong for the blue & gold in its 96-76 loss on Saturday at the Kohl Center, did, as the 5-5 Golden Eagles fell to 1-4 against their in-state rivals under head coach Shaka Smart.
“Congrats to Wisconsin,” Smart said. “They really set the tone early in the game with the force with they played, particularly on the offensive end.”
The blue & gold were torched all day on Saturday by junior guard John Blackwell, who finished with 30 points on 8-of-17 shooting from the field, also nailing 6-of-12 triples.
“It was an honor to beat [Marquette],” Blackwell said. “Because there’s a sour taste in our mouth from them beating us at their crib last year. It’s a good feeling beating them and giving the fans what they deserve.”
All five of Wisconsin’s starters finished with 11 points or more, but the story of the day was Wisconsin’s three guards, who combined for 62 points. Andrew Rhode, a Brookfield, Wisconsin native, had 17, and Nick Boyd chipped in the remaining 15.
“I think the way they move the ball from side-to-side was a huge benefit to them,” Smart said. “Because they threw our guys out of rotation, and made us a little bit late helping each other. Then they capitalized on that.
“It felt like Blackwell made every open three he got, and Rhode, and they did a great job capitalizing when they had opportunities.”
Marquette started the game 2-of-16 from the field, and just 1-of-8 from deep. Despite that, it trailed just 10-5 thanks to slow 3-of-8 shooting for the Badgers. But then Wisconsin would make 9 of its next 15 shot attempts to open up a 13-point lead, and from there the Badgers wouldn’t look back.
“I think when we look back at the tape, we’ll see a lot of defensive breakdowns,” first-year guard Adrien Stevens said. “A lot of times where we could’ve had stops. But, it ended up with [Wisconsin] getting an offensive rebound, and I think that kind of fueled them.”
Despite Marquette finishing the first half on a 15-9 run to cut its deficit to 12 heading into halftime, there wasn’t much fire coming out of the break.
Not much from anyone except first-year guard Nigel James Jr., that is. James Jr. — who averaged 20.5 points across MU’s past two games — didn’t make his first field goal until 26 seconds into the second half.
He scored six more points in the next three minutes to raise his total to a team-high 11. After his layup at the 16:49 mark of the second half, Marquette trailed 52-40.
Despite the early charge from the first-year guard, the Golden Eagles were unable to keep any sort of momentum heading down the stretch. Wisconsin went on a 30-18 run over the course of the next 10:20, holding a 82-56 lead over Marquette when the run was all said and done.
Stevens, who made his first career start in place of junior guard Zaide Lowery, showed some promise down the stretch, finishing with a team-high 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting.
“I was just trying to do everything I can to help the team win,” Stevens said. “I wasn’t trying to make it bigger than what it was. It’s just another basketball game, another opportunity to go out there and play.”
However, when the final horn sounded, Marquette once again was left to hang its heads in defeat in the postgame handshake line against a high-major opponent.
A season full of disappointment and despair continues to take a turn for the worst. Up next? A trip to No. 1 Purdue in one week’s time, when the 2025-26 misery train pulls into Mackey Arena.
“We know that there’s a lot of opportunities for us to grow, and we’re just going to take it day by day,” Stevens said.
“Every game is a game, so, it’s a tough stretch, but that’s just who we are. This is who we play, it’s just what it is. We’re gonna go after it, we’re gonna try to be every team that’s on our schedule, (we’ve) just got to stay with it.”
This story was written by Matthew Baltz. He can be reached at matthew.baltz@marquette.edu or on Twitter/X @MatthewBaltzMU.