CHICAGO — Another game, another 40 minutes of inconsistent basketball from Marquette.
It’s been the same story all season for the 4-4 Golden Eagles through their first eight games. Friday’s 75-74 loss to the Oklahoma Sooners (4-2) was simply the latest chapter in a book that, if continuing on this trend, will end short of anything close to a postseason appearance, let alone glory.
Like in previous sections of this 2025-26 tale, there were moments in which Marquette looked the part. Like it has in the first four years under Shaka Smart.
The Golden Eagles scored the game’s first eight points, using two 3-pointers and a kill to hold the Sooners scoreless for nearly three minutes. They led by six points, 29-23, on 12-of-24 overall and 5-of-8 deep shooting after 12 minutes, extending a hot start — a rarity this season — beyond just the start. They came out of the locker room after halftime like they did the afternoon, using defense to extend their once four-point lead to 12, 50-38.
And, the Golden Eagles clawed back behind their leaders senior Chase Ross and first-year Nigel James Jr. with an 8-0 run to tie it, 72-72, with barely a minute remaining.
But this is not a fairy tale. This is a basketball season. One that’s latest section ended, for Marquette, sadly ever after. One identical to the rest of the Golden Eagles’ high major games, against whom they are now 0-3 (not including an overtime defeat to Dayton).
“I told the guys ‘Life and basketball throw at you exactly what you need to learn and grow from,’” Smart said. “So that’s exactly where we are right now.”
Remember that four-point halftime lead? That was dwindled to four points after a 9-0 Oklahoma run, with Marquette’s final basket of the first half being a Royce Parham step-back 3-pointer at the 4:46 mark before going 0-for-6 leading into the break.
And that 12-point lead. How can one forget that? Marquette erased that advantage by going nearly seven minutes without a basket, scoring only five points, all from the charity stripe. In those seven minutes, Oklahoma put up 21 to take a four-point lead, 59-55.
“Combination of missing shots around the basket, not making the right reads when we got into the paint, and then we missed some open threes,” Smart said.
How about the eight-straight points at the end, which came in barely over a minute? What ever happened to those? Well, they were capped off with a final possession, 17 seconds in length, and a timeout on-hand to draw up whatever play Smart, in his wildest fantasies, desired.
Walking back onto the court, in their second ideal game-winning possession of the season, the Golden Eagles ran one action, which failed, then made one pass, which resulted in a contested, fadeaway, off-balance, mid-range jumper that clanged off the iron.
FINAL: 75-74 Oklahoma#mubb found itself in another IDEAL game-winning situation, and again could not convert.
They made it a game, no doubt, but not enough of one to win. pic.twitter.com/6Ye8D24BqJ
— Jack Albright (@JackAlbrightMU) November 28, 2025
“Tae Davis did a really good job blowing up that 17-18 seconds. We wanted to run an action for NJ. Davis did a great job blowing that up,” Smart said.
“We got a shot off, but it wasn’t anywhere near what we wanted. So obviously as a team, there’s a lot of things to look at.”
That clank, the final of an afternoon full of them, was quickly drowned out by the final buzzer whose ringing signified a one-point defeat for all in the arena and beyond to hear.
The Golden Eagles finished the day 27-of-67 overall and 9-of-27 from deep — they were 12-for-31 and 2-for-11, respectively, in the second half — while the Sooners went 16-of-30 and 5-of-14 in the final 20 minutes.
Ross led Marquette with 21 points and James Jr. finished right behind with 20. Nigel Pack led Oklahoma with 24 points on 9-of-14 overall and 5-of-7 3-point shooting.
As Ross’ last-ditch, Hail Mary of a jumper bounced off the rim and rolled back down the court, he sat down flat on the court. Smart leaned over, putting his hands on his knees. The Golden Eagles’ bench somberly limbered onto the floor and through the handshake line.
Surely everyone in the blue & gold understood what this loss meant for their NCAA tournament chances, which are now so slim they can be seen only through a microscope.
“Basically just putting these games in the past,” sophomore Royce Parham said about recovering. “And not just dwell on the losses we have recently.
“Then just coming out in the next game and the next game and focus on the future ahead of us.”
This article was written by Jack Albright. He can be reached at jack.albright@marquette.edu or on Twitter/X @JackAlbrightMU.