Marquette Basketball: Tough loss to Purdue in Maui Invitational final

Marquette Basketball comes up just short to Zach Edey and Purdue in the Maui Invitational Championship game, taking their first loss of the season.

Marquette Basketball lost by just 3 points to Purdue Wednesday night in the Maui Invitational Championship game. A hard-fought 40 minutes of basketball that saw the nation’s top players on full display, two excellent head coaches that brought game plans that were executed on the court, and a thirst for a Maui title and a shot at becoming the #1 team in the land. A certain shot to end the first half would loom large in a game that would ultimately come down to the wire.

Although Marquette jumped out to a quick 12-9 lead going into the first media timeout, the first half quickly settled into Purdue’s pace. In large part due to Marquette center Oso Ighodaro’s two quick fouls, the Boilermakers were able to draw extra attention and double teams towards their star big man Zach Edey. This opened up the outside, as Purdue shot 7 for 9 from the outside in the first session. They wouldn’t give up on Edey though, continuing to feed him the ball inside against a small Marquette lineup, where he would exploit the situation for 13 first-half points.

Marquette failed to create and hit shots from the outside in the first half, but still got plenty of paint touches. They also saw their All-American point guard Tyler Kolek take on the scoring load, going for 15 points, but only 1 assist. Purdue’s poise and effort to stick to the game plan sent them to 57% shooting and a 45-33 halftime lead after an unbelievable 75-foot full-court make from Purdue guard Lane Jones, a shot that would definitely end up playing a role in the outcome.

The Golden Eagles pressure defense can wear on teams. It’s one of those things that’s so relentless that it will get to every team to some extent eventually. Such was the case Wednesday night, as Marquette went to different zone looks and three-quarter court pressure, creating a feast of turnovers along the way.

Although the Purdue lead grew to as much as 15 in the early stages of the second half, Marquette began to slowly chip away. Oso Ighodaro was released back onto the floor and contributed multiple inside scores en route to 16 points. Marquette kept pushing back on every possession, capitalizing on stops. The lead fell to 3 with just over 10 minutes left, and it felt like Marquette had all of the momentum heading into the final quarter of the game. Purdue head coach Matt Painter had his team prepared for this stretch to the finish.

They played even basketball with Marquette the rest of the way through in a game that felt like it belonged in March. Key offensive rebounding and a critical tip-in to secure the lead from star Zach Edey sealed the win, a Maui Invitational title, and most likely a top national ranking for Purdue by, you guessed it, 3 points. 78-75.

Despite the heartbreaking loss, Marquette had an excellent showing at the Maui Invitational. Outside of the foul trouble in the final, Oso Ighodaro showed that he is a force to be reckoned with inside on both ends of the floor. Tyler Kolek continues to impress, displaying unbelievable vision and decision-making. Kam Jones was the scoring savant that he needed to be. And Sean Jones? He’s SO fast. Game-changing fast. Coach Shaka Smart and his close-knit squad showed the country exactly what they can do and how much chaos they can cause, and this will not be the last time that we see them on the national stage.

Marquette travels back to Milwaukee for a post-holiday matchup at home with Southwestern Athletic Conference’s Southern University on Tuesday, November 28th.