An Obvious Failure To Meet The Moment: DePaul 80, Marquette 75

What if I told you that Marquette men’s basketball went down to Chicago on Friday night and threw their fifth best offensive game of the season at DePaul? You’d be pretty happy with that, I’d imagine, and that is what happened, according to KenPom.com’s offensive efficiency stats. Powered by 41% three-point shooting and just seven turnovers across the entire game, the Golden Eagles played better than they have all but four times this season on the offensive end of the floor.

But you have already seen the title of this article if not the game itself, and thus you have already been spoiled as to the fact that there is a catch, a hitch, a snag in just saying “hey, look, fifth best offensive performance of the season!” and moving on with our lives.

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Yes, it was the fifth best offense we’ve seen from Shaka Smart’s Golden Eagles in 2025-26.

It was also the second worst defense this season, surpassed only by the disaster against Indiana at the United Center. After DePaul scored 1.09 points per possession in the first half — honestly, that’s not awful defense, not when CJ Gunn is shooting 5-for-8 from behind the arc by himself — the Blue Demons followed that up with 1.38 points per trip down the floor after halftime.

Honestly, it was probably worse than that for Marquette for most of the second half. Why? Because a Layden Blocker bucket with four seconds left to get the first half score to 44-36 favoring MU ended up being the first basket in a 16-0 run for the Blue Demons. Marquette led by 11, 33-22, with 7:52 left in the first half, and then were down six, 50-44, with 17:51 left in the game.

16-0 actually turned into 23-3 after another seven straight by DePaul, and that had the home team up 10. With 8:50 left, Nigel James scored in the paint to finally cut the margin down to just six points and give Marquette a chance to get some stops and rally back.

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9-0 DePaul, 15 point lead, there’s your ball game, 4:51 to go.

Yes, Marquette’s 15-5…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/obvious-failure-meet-moment-depaul-043953103.html

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Publish date : 2026-01-17 04:39:00

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