The No. 11 Marquette basketball suffered their second straight loss on Tuesday, as the Golden Eagles fell prey to the No. 12 St. John’s Red Storm of Rick Pitino at Madison Square Garden in New York via a score of 70-64.
The game featured intense physicality that ended up favoring the Red Storm. Marquette basketball head coach Shaka Smart credited Pitino and St. John’s for finding a way to edge the Golden Eagles amid what he described as a basketball affair with “incredible violence.”
Via Rumble In The Garden:
Shaka Smart: “Heck of a game by St. John’s. Hats off and much respect to Coach Pitino and the whole program. They played with incredible violence and were the more aggressive team for the majority of the game.”
Marquette basketball got outworked by a physical Red Storm squad
The Red Storm shot just 41.7 percent from the floor and hit only three of their 16 attempts from behind the arc but got 31 attempts (17 makes) from the foul line, as St. John’s consistently fished fouls from the Golden Eagles. Also, the Red Storm generated plenty of second-chance opportunities on offense, thanks to their huge 21-5 advantage on the offensive glass. Overall, the Red Storm had 50 boards to just 23 by Marquette.
Offensive rebounding and defense have been major keys to St. John’s success in the 2024-25 college basketball season. The Red Storm are fourth in the nation with an 88.4 adjusted defensive efficiency and 13th with a 37.5 percent offensive rebound rate.
Chase Ross led Marquette in scoring with 16 points while Kam Jones chipped in 15. However, they combined for just 10-for-23 shooting from the floor and 2-for-11 from deep.
The Golden Eagles, who came into the St. John’s game following a loss to the reigning national champions UConn Huskies, slid down to 18-5 overall after their latest loss. They are also now 9-3 in Big East play – good for third in the conference standings.
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