Coming off a disappointing home loss, Marquette will face another tough opponent when it faces Dayton on Wednesday night in Milwaukee.
Maryland beat Marquette 89-82 on Saturday despite playing without multiple injured starters.
Marquette (3-2) lost despite a career-high 31 points from Chase Ross, who hit 10 of 19 shots from the floor. Ben Gold added 18 points and Zaide Lowery had 14 points and eight rebounds, but the Golden Eagles shot just 36.8% from the field and 27.5% from deep.
“Just really, really disappointing last 15 minutes of that game,” coach Shaka Smart said of his team, which took a 55-46 lead at the 15:02 mark. “We just didn’t sustain the defensive intensity we had to have. We give up 89 points; that’s not the pathway for us to win.”
Offense was also a part of Marquette’s struggles, as the team made just 11 of 24 layups.
“When you’re playing with a clear mind, those shots tend to go in,” Smart said. “When you’re not, they tend to miss. Right now, we have some real soul-searching to do.”
Ross leads Marquette with averages of 20.8 points, 4.0 assists and 1.6 steals per game, while Gold averages a team-high 8.4 rebounds.
Dayton (3-1), meanwhile, bounced back from a 74-62 loss at Cincinnati last week with a 91-82 home win over Bethune-Cookman on Saturday. Javon Bennett led the Flyers with 25 points, while Amael L’Etang added 18 points and 10 rebounds.
“We looked out for each other, we played for each other,” Bennett said. “We made extra passes, and that ended up getting us better shots.”
The senior has stepped up for Dayton in the early going, averaging a team-high 18.3 points per game, while L’Etang is the top rebounder at 7.5.
With Dayton’s second road test coming up, coach Anthony Grant stressed his players must draw from the lessons they learned at Cincinnati.
“It’s another great opportunity,” Grant said. “Marquette is a great program. I know it’s going to be a great environment going there. … They (the Flyers) have to be the best version of themselves.”
–Field Level Media
