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Marquette Basketball: Next steps for Golden Eagles after Murray State defeat

By Brian Foley

HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT - MARCH 21: Markus Howard #0 of the Marquette Golden Eagles leaves the game at the end of the second half against the Murray State Racers during the first round game of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at XL Center on March 21, 2019 in Hartford, Connecticut. Murray State defeated Marquette 83-64. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT - MARCH 21: Markus Howard #0 of the Marquette Golden Eagles leaves the game at the end of the second half against the Murray State Racers during the first round game of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at XL Center on March 21, 2019 in Hartford, Connecticut. Murray State defeated Marquette 83-64. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /
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HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT – MARCH 21: Sam Hauser #10 of the Marquette Golden Eagles is congratulated by teammates Brendan Bailey #1 and Sacar Anim #2 after a free throw during the first round game of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament against the Murray State Racers at XL Center on March 21, 2019 in Hartford, Connecticut. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT – MARCH 21: Sam Hauser #10 of the Marquette Golden Eagles is congratulated by teammates Brendan Bailey #1 and Sacar Anim #2 after a free throw during the first round game of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament against the Murray State Racers at XL Center on March 21, 2019 in Hartford, Connecticut. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /

Murray State put the final nail in the coffin of Marquette Basketball’s 2018-19 season. What do the Golden Eagles have in store for next season and beyond?

The month of March should have been the crowning achievement for the Marquette Golden Eagles’ dream season, as a Big East regular season title, a conference tournament trophy, or a modicum of NCAA tourney success all not only seemed possible, but even likely. Instead, it all turned into a nightmare and quickly created more questions than answers.

Ja Morant extinguished any hopes of the latter on Thursday during his sterling 17-point, 16-assist, 11-rebound triple-double effort in Murray State’s 83-64 thrashing of the Golden Eagles, but Marquette’s season was already running on fumes to close out the Big East campaign. After winning 23 of its first 27 games – with victories over Kansas State, Wisconsin, Buffalo, Louisville, Villanova, and Seton Hall – MU crashed and burned during a 1-6 finish.

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Up until the Murray State catastrophe, Marquette could have, and maybe should have, won every game during their season-ending swoon, but were done in by innumerable self-inflicted wounds.

Turnovers killed Marquette during its first three losses down the stretch – the Golden Eagles totaled 58 giveaways in consecutive losses to Villanova, Creighton, and Seton Hall – and when they solved those problems – MU averaged “only” 10.8 turnovers over the final four games – the much-improved team defense completely disappeared. The Golden Eagles surrendered at least 1.138 points per possession just seven times just this year, but three of those instances occurred in the final four games. Guess what? They lost all three games.

Now, Marquette can only look back at what could have been as it heads into the offseason surprisingly empty-handed. The program is set up well for the future, but a cloud of uncertainty still hangs over the team.

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