The Marquette Golden Eagles were looking to continue to make their March Madness climb, but come up short in the first round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship, losing to the 10th-seed, New Mexico Lobos 75-66 in Cleveland, Ohio on Friday night.
It’s a First Round Exit for Marquette Golden Eagles
Even though Marquette was dubbed as a rarer program due to the fact that they were playing without any NCAA transfers, the hype and good word couldn’t help them come out on top against the Lobos.
Head coach Shaka Smart did say the stop to Northeast Ohio was the most meaningful stop in his career, but after Friday’s loss, it could very well become a place of heartbreak as his team isn’t able to get past the first round of the tournament after Marquette saw their first Sweet Sixteen berth last season for the first time since 2013 before they lost to 11th-seed NC State.
The Marquette Golden Eagles have not won an NCAA tournament since 1977, and haven’t been to the final four since 2003.
Marquette Struggles with Consistency
Despite the 28 points on 9-of-15 shooting from senior forward David Joplin, the Golden Eagles shot 40.7% from the floor and the Lobos were able to score 21 points off 11 Marquette turnovers. It was evident that Marquette players were struggling on the court, including senior Kam Jones, who although had 15 points and five assists, had four turnovers.
MU’s defense weren’t able to keep New Mexico guard Donovan Dent from scoring, who scored a total 21 points for the Lobos. It was a back-and-forth second half for both teams, both trapping the lead at some point for a moment. Joplin was able to give MU a 59-58 lead on a three-point shot with 5:23 remaining, but New Mexico would respond with six points, including two buckets from Dent.
The first half for MU was messy. The Golden Eagles were 4-for-11 on two-point attempts, and the Lobos’ defense made sure to keep shots out of the bucket. MU trailed as much as eight points heading into halftime, but at the end of the first half, Joplin hit three, and Jones had a layup to get Marquette 32-35 at the half.
New Mexico Dominates in First Round Victory
The win for New Mexico marks their first NCAA tournament game won since 2012, and the first time they’ve beat a Big East team in program history. This win also marks the first time since 1999 that they’ve won a first-round game as the lower-ranked seed.
The Lobos were led by Dent with 21 points and six assists, Nelly Junior Joseph had 19 points, Tru Washington had 12, and CJ Noland had 11. As a team, they shot 47.3% (22-for-55) from the field, and shot 18-21 from the free throw line. From the paint, New Mexico outscored Marquette 38-26.
The Lobos will play the winner of Friday’s contest between second-seeded Michigan State or 15-seed Bryant State on Sunday.
As for Marquette, their season comes to an end and they’ll look to come back bigger and better next season.
