Seton Hall hands Marquette its third straight road loss and its second in the Big East
Ben SteeleNEWARK, N.J. – Life isn’t easy away from home for the Marquette men’s basketball team.
The seventh-ranked Golden Eagles had an inconsistent performance again on the road and suffered a 78-75 loss to Seton Hall on Saturday at the Prudential Center.
MU (11-4, 2-2 Big East) has won 20 straight conference games at Fiserv Forum, but the Golden Eagles have lost their last three road games, including defeats at Providence and Wisconsin. MU’s other loss this season came on a neutral court to Purdue at the Maui Invitational in Honolulu.
More:Seton Hall 78, Marquette 75
"I think, first of all, it's hard to win on the road and teams are going to be very, very motivated on their end to win the game," MU head coach Shaka Smart said. "And I think we've run into that in those games.
"We try to focus on ourselves. We don't really control the other team. We spent some time as a group re-setting our road mindset coming into today. I thought in some ways our guys carried that over and in some ways we didn't."
Tyler Kolek, Marquette can't keep up hot start
MU got off to a hot start, much different from the frigid beginning against Creighton in the Golden Eagles’ previous game.
MU hit six of its first eight shots, including three-pointers from Tyler Kolek and David Joplin.
The Golden Eagles grabbed a 23-13 lead and the building was quiet after an emphatic slam dunk by Oso Ighodaro.
But Al-Amir Dawes answered with a three-pointer, and that seemed to give Seton Hall life. Dawes finished with 23 points for the Pirates (10-5, 2-2), and frequently caused fits for MU's defense.
A 14-2 run, capped by another triple by Dawes, gave the Pirates a 38-30 advantage at the 4:21 mark of the first half.
"The start of the game was to some extent fools' gold for us," Smart said. "Because we were scoring, but Seton Hall was scoring for a while.
"We were able to take a 10-point lead but we were not consistently in a stance, defending with the type of desperation that you have to defend with on the road. And so I would say it starts there."
Kolek, MU's All-American point guard, had three points and three assists as the Golden Eagles built that early 10-point lead.
He struggled the rest of the way, committing three turnovers in the first half and also picking up two early fouls that put him on the bench for the last two minutes before halftime.
Kolek finished with six assists and five rebounds, but he scored just five points on 1-for-6 shooting.
"They played with physicality," Smart said. "They were aggressive. I thought he did get in the paint a lot. He had some really good passes.
"They just played with great physicality. Tyler's a really good player. He's better than he played today. We believe in him. We're going to continue to put the ball in his hands as long as he's got a Marquette uniform on."
Sophomore guard Chase Ross suffers separated shoulder
The Golden Eagles lost their top reserve for the game when Chase Ross wrestled away a loose ball under the basket with just over 11 minutes remaining in the first half.
Ross immediately writhed in pain as he grabbed his left shoulder. The sophomore guard was examined by a trainer and then came back to the bench before putting a sling on his left arm.
"I believe he separated his shoulder and then it kind of went back into place," Smart said. "But I haven't talked to the trainer or doctor yet. They just told me he was out for the game.
"But he was in a lot of pain. They were already in there at halftime and after the game doing treatment. We'll have to figure out how long he'll be out.
"It was just an unfortunate play. He's one of our toughest guys, so for him to play a minute-and-a-half certainly hurt us. But at the same time, you go on the road, you can't make any excuses, you have to step forward as a group and do what it takes."
Oso Ighodaro's big game not enough
Ighodaro filled the stat sheet with 22 points, eight rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks.
"We don't have everyone on our team on an equal level with Oso Ighodaro and his passion for winning," Smart said. "And that starts in practice. That has to improve and I'm excited about working on it."
The Golden Eagles haven't shied away from talking about lofty goals like the Final Four for this season. Physical teams like Seton Hall and Providence have disrupted MU's usual offensive flow.
"Each loss (on the road) has been different for us," Ighodaro said. "The first two were some cultural stuff; we just weren't ourselves. Then today we just didn't guard at the level we know we can."
MU could never grab the lead in the second half, but tied the game twice in the final 6:36.
Seton Hall gathered itself for a big punch and made three straight layups for a 76-66 advantage with just over two minutes left.
But the Golden Eagles weren’t done. A layup from Ighodaro, a steal and fastbreak score by Joplin and a three-pointer from Kam Jones made it 76-73 at the 1:05 mark.
Another steal and push shot by Ighodaro got MU within 76-75.
Dre Davis ended the drought for the Pirates by knocking in a close-range jumper off the glass with eight seconds remaining.
The Golden Eagles raced the ball up the court and called timeout with 6.4 seconds on the clock.
Kolek struggled to get the ball in before tossing it to Ighodaro at the top of the key. Ighodaro tried to make a pass to Joplin, but the ball got away for a turnover.
"That last play on the side, we weren't able to go do what we wanted to do because of the physicality out there," Smart said. "That is what it is."
Marquette has two home games before another road test
The Golden Eagles had a final look after the Pirates' Dylan Addae-Wusu missed a free throw with two seconds left.
But Kolek's long heave was well off the mark, and MU had another disappointing walk to the visiting locker room.
MU will play its next two games at Fiserv Forum, starting with Butler on Wednesday. The Golden Eagles haven't lost to a conference opponent in their own building since Jan. 1, 2022. Their 20-straight home wins have tied a Big East record.
But if MU wants to win a second straight Big East regular-season crown, the Golden Eagles will have to figure out how to win on the road. MU plays St. John's at Madison Square Garden in New York on Jan. 20.
"We have high standards for ourselves," Ighodaro said. "We have high goals this season. We just have to match our everyday approach with those goals and expectations."
