Marquette will look to rebound from a last-second loss when it hosts NC Central on Tuesday in Milwaukee.
The Golden Eagles (6-3) ended a three-game winning streak, which included a 96-70 win over then-No. 6 Baylor, with an 80-77 loss in overtime to visiting Wisconsin on Saturday.
NC Central (5-4) has won five of its past six games after a record-setting 127-40 home win over Division II St. Andrews on Saturday in Durham, N.C.
After leading 41-30 at the half, the Golden Eagles needed a dunk by Oso Ighodaro to tie the game with 22 seconds remaining. The game went into overtime after Wisconsin’s Chucky Hepburn missed a long 3-pointer in the closing seconds.
With the game tied at 77, Max Klesmit rolled in the go-ahead shot from a few feet from the basket with 3.5 seconds left before Marquette threw away a deep inbounds pass.
“We got to find the right guy to make that pass and that catch,” Marquette coach Shaka Smart said. “We’ve worked on that some in practice, but nowhere near enough. And that’s my job to find who it makes sense to make that pass.”
Tyler Wahl made the second of his two free-throw attempts to provide the final margin after the Badgers intercepted Marquette’s final deep toss.
NC Central set school records for most points scored and largest margin of victory in its 87-point win over St. Andrews.
The Eagles had seven players score in double figures, led by Ja’Darius Harris’ 18 points, while Kris Monroe had 13 points and Cameron Butler added 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
Fred Cleveland Jr. and Devin Butts each scored 11, while Daniel Oladapo and Brendan Medley-Bacon each had 10 points apiece. Cleveland and Eric Boone each had a game-high seven assists, while Cleveland and Oladapo each recorded a game-high four steals.
The Eagles also made 16 3-pointers, led by Monroe’s four in eight attempts, while Monroe and Cleveland each hit three.
The Eagles’ previous mark for most points in a game came in a 123-57 win over Warren Wilson in November 2018, while the prior mark for largest margin of victory was 85 points in a 119-34 win over St. Augustine’s on Feb. 18, 1944.
“I love the direction (we’re going),” NC Central Coach LeVelle Moton said.
“We’re still establishing what it takes to (close out games) and you can work on that in practice all you want, but there’s nothing like game-time bullets. We are still turning the ball over at critical times and doing unnecessary things.”
–Field Level Media
