Marquette can't overcome ugly first half in loss to DePaul

Barring a run to the Big East tournament title, the Marquette men’s basketball team doesn’t have the NCAA tournament to look forward to this March.

All the Golden Eagles have to play for is showing fans that there is hope for the future.

MU has unquestionably been playing better since January , but there were some flashbacks to the dark days of early in the season in a 62-51 loss to DePaul on March 1 at Fiserv Forum.

The Blue Demons (16-13, 8-10 Big East) also beat MU on Jan. 16 , so they swept the Golden Eagles (10-19, 5-13) in the season series for the first time since the 1990-91 season.

BOX SCORE: DePaul 62, Marquette 5 1

MU hasn’t won back-to-back games since beating Albany and Southern to start the season .

This one was lost in an ugly first half in which MU managed only 14 points.

"It had been quite a while for us since our guys kind of had that deer-in-headlights look, but they had there for a stretch," Golden Eagles head coach Shaka Smart said.

Brandon Maclin leads DePaul in first half

The Blue Demons rolled into halftime with a 32-14 advantage after a 21-1 run that stunned the Golden Eagles.

MU shot just 5 for 22, including 0 for 10 on 3-pointers, in the opening 20 minutes. DePaul's Brandon Maclin (15 points) out-scored MU by himself in the first half.

"It was mostly offense, but there were definitely some breakdowns (on the defensive end)," Smart said. "They were pretty much doing simple stuff on their offensive end.

"Guard-to-guard ball screens to get a matchup and then running their 5-man up. I thought we did a lot of good things defensively in the first half. Obviously not enough when you struggle that much on the offensive end.

"What you saw from our guys in the stretch was 'Uh-oh.' I think our guys have done a great job of late fighting that off. That's a team thing for us, it's not one individua. But we definitely need various guys to step forward and say 'Uh-uh, we're not getting down about this. We're going to trust what we do.' "

Nigel James Jr. and Chase Ross can't get MU over hump in second half

MU came out of the locker room a completely different team, scoring nine unanswered points.

The Blue Demons responded by building their lead back to 48-31 with just under 10 minutes remaining.

But MU didn’t go away and got the crowd back in the game with a 16-2 run. Chase Ross hit a 3-pointer to get the Golden Eagles within 50-47 at the 4:10 mark.

"Thought we were in pretty good position, all things considered," Smart said. "They outplayed us in the last round of the game."

The Golden Eagles had several chances to cut further into the lead, but Nigel James Jr. and Royce Parham missed free throws. MU finished 11 for 22 from the charity stripe.

"We missed some timely ones, too," Smart said. "We've had our free-throw difficulties at times this year.

"We have a lot of guys - we track all our free-throw shooting in practice and when the guys get extra shots - that I think are better free-throw shooters than that. But ultimately, especially when you get this late in the year when your free-throw percentage is kind of what you are.

"We have to get better at it. We got to coach it better. We got to relax and step up to the foul line and shoot it. I have confidence in those guys shooting it."

DePaul’s N.J. Benson dropped in a layup with 1:41 remaining for a 55-49 advantage, and the Blue Demons held on from there. Benson finished with 10 points and 16 rebounds.

James led MU with 14 points, but he had five turnovers and three assists. Ross, playing in a bulky shoulder brace after getting hurt late in MU's win at Georgetown, added 13.

Shaka Smart talks about different kind of March

MU made the NCAA tournament in Smart's first four seasons and were twice a No. 2 seed.

But this season, the Golden Eagles are in danger of surpassing the program record for losses in a season of 21 set in 1963-64. Eddie Hickey was fired as coach after that season, and MU hired Al McGuire to dramatically change MU's trajectory.

"We've been talking a lot for the last several weeks about just growing," Smart said. "To the point where we could be at our best going into the Big East tournament.

"We have a lot of evidence of that, though today doesn't feel like it. So I guess you can look at that through different ways as a coach or as a player or as a fan. Just because of the way I am and what our guys need, I choose to see the things our guys can do and the areas that they've made growth.

"As I mentioned, the spirit and energy of our team has to be right in order to access all those things. So that will be something that we will continue to work on and help guys with. But where we are, like everyone else heading into our last week, we got two games to play. We're excited about those opportunities.

"It is a different feeling (than previous Marches) . But it's my job to help prepare our guys and to keep pushing them to move forward. Every time we take the floor we have a chance to win. If you can't get excited about that as a coach or player, there's something wrong with you."

Marquette's probable starters vs DePaul

Guard:Nigel James Jr., Adrien Stevens, Chase Ross

Forwards: Ben Gold , Royce Parham

Marquette vs DePaul prediction

The Golden Eagles want to finish the season strong to give fans some hope for the future. Beating DePaul and then winning at Providence on March 4 would go a long way before a tough test to close the regular season against Connecticut on March 7 at Fiserv Forum. MU gets it done, with some added juice in the building for Markus Howard 's jersey retirement.

Prediction:MU 78, DePaul 67

What channel is Marquette vs DePaul on today? TV, livestream

• TV: FS1

• Stream: You can stream the game on the Fox Sports or Fox One app, and  Fubo has a free trial for new subscribers.

• Announcers: Jack Kizer (play-by-play) and Phil Martelli (analyst) will call the action.

Marquette vs DePaul start time

• Date: Sunday, March. 1

• Time: 3 p.m. CT

Marquette vs DePaul odds

Odds courtesy of  BetMGM  as of March 1

• Spread: Marquette by 4.5

• Over/under: 142.5

• Moneyline: Marquette -190, DePaul +154

Marquette basketball schedule 2025-26

Here are the next four games for the Golden Eagles (all times Central):

• March 1: DePaul, 3 p.m.

• March 4: at Providence, 6 p.m.

• March 7: Connecticut, 11:30 a.m.

• March 11-14: Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden, New York

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Marquette can't overcome ugly first half in loss to DePaul