VILLANAOVA, PA – Sometimes young players just need to run into a brick wall a few times. Maybe one day it will lead to a breakthrough.
The Marquette men’s basketball team keeps putting itself in position to win tough games on the road, but a few youthful mistakes just seem to slam the door on the Golden Eagles’ chances.
It happened again on Feb. 10 when MU couldn’t hold on to a late six-point lead in a 77-74 loss to Villanova at Finneran Pavilion.
“Being poised is a result of individuals growing in that area,” MU head coach Shaka Smart said. “And then coming together and making the decision that this is who we are and who we have to be.”
Nigel James Jr. has some freshman moments late
Nigel James Jr. has been so good for MU (9-16, 4-10 Big East) this season that sometimes it’s easy to forget that he is still a freshman.
The 6-foot guard seemed sped up at times, and two of his six turnovers came in the final 90 seconds. James also missed a quick look on a 3-pointer with MU clinging to a 72-71 lead with just over 2 minutes left.
Villanova’s own stellar freshman, Acaden Lewis, immediately got the ball on the fast break and scored to give the Wildcats (19-5, 10-3) the lead for good.
“All year long he’s been a guy that’s been aggressive for us,” Smart said about James. “We always want him to be that.
“I think that as a team, as a group, we’re still trying to gain poise. That’s all of us, so not just NJ. Certainly we’d love to have some of those plays back. Thought he absolutely got grabbed on the arm with 50 seconds left down one. We didn’t get the call. But you know what? You got to win anyway. Find a way to win anyway.”
Both teams were plagued by fouls in the second half, so it was a surprise that James didn’t get a call there.
MU’s defense also seemed to back off in the final minutes, with Villanova making five of its last seven shots.
Tyler Perkins led the Wildcats with 22 points, making three straight 3-pointers after MU took its biggest lead at 66-57 with 6:13 remaining.
“They really ramped up their aggressiveness late,” Smart said. “They were calling a lot of fouls, so it’s tricky.
“There’s that fine line of trying to defend without fouling, you don’t want to send them to the line late in the game. But then you also have to play with a level of force to keep them from getting down the lane line and getting to where they want to get.
“Thought our guys did a good job of that for most of the game. But obviously in that last round [4-minute stretch] of the game, not good enough on defense or offense.”
Royce Parham has best game of career but suffers from cramps
MU sophomore Royce Parham continued to show why he is an important building block for the program’s future.
Parham finished with career highs of 26 points and 11 rebounds in 37 minutes. Those numbers could have been higher, but he kept getting subbed in and out late in the game while dealing with cramps.
“It’s just disappointing,” Parham said. “Obviously I had my career high tonight and I was going good, and my body just started cramping up.
“Pretty much my calf started cramping, my quad. It’s just unfortunate.”
Parham was highly efficient, working his way to easy buckets by the rim. He was 8 for 9 on field goals and 9 of 10 on free throws. The trips to the charity stripe were also a career high.
“Just my coaches trusting in me,” Parham said. “They believed in me and were calling up a lot of plays for me.
“I was kind of being more assertive today, too. I just kept going flowing with that.”
MU freshman Adrien Stevens added 18 points, but he missed his last four 3-point attempts in the final 7-plus minutes. In the final seconds, with MU not having a timeout, Stevens had a potential tying triple blocked by Perkins.
“We just got to stay together and slow down sometimes,” Parham said of MU’s late-game execution. “I feel like there’s some times when we turn the ball over in close situations and obviously not get a shot or a chance to score.
“That definitely hurts when it’s a two-minute game, like a one-point game or something like that. So basically just coming together, slowing down and then just trusting in the guy behind you to help you.”
Shaka Smart wants young players to learn from experience
A glance at the box score makes you wonder how MU even had a chance to win.
The Golden Eagles turned the ball over 18 times. The Wildcats had 17 offensive rebounds. That combination led to 10 more shot attempts for Villanova, and the Wildcats made five more 3-point shots.
Both teams made 18 free throws, but Villanova missed 13 attempts while MU only misfired on two.
It was another winnable game in the last four minutes, just like the previous three road losses at Seton Hall, Butler and DePaul.
“I thought about this kind of during the game,” Smart said. “With NJ, with Adrien, with some of the really young guys out on the floor, they’re just obviously being thrown into the fire.
“I don’t know if Tyler (Kolek), Kam (Jones), Oso (Ighodaro) come in here as freshmen and play with great poise. By the time they came in here, they were a little older than that.
“We just got to learn from our experiences. And we have to keep the right spirit. You have to have the spirit of poise before you can play with poise. A couple guys did get sped up out there. It’s a fine line between trying to do too much and making the right play.
“And then we got unlucky. Again, with 50 seconds left [the turnover by James with the apparent missed foul call], that was just a tough play.”
Marquette’s probable starters
Guards: Nigel James Jr., Adrien Stevens, Chase ROss
Forwards: Ben Gold, Royce Parham
Marquette at Villanova
The first meeting between the teams on Jan. 10 left the Golden Eagles lamenting their missed chances in the final minutes of a 76-73 loss at Fiserv Forum. MU has gotten a lot better since then, with the team leaning into its young talent in James, Parham, and Stevens. But MU isn’t quite ready to beat a good team in a hostile environment.
Prediction: Villanova 75, MU 68
What channel is Marquette vs Villanova on tonight? TV, livestream
Marquette vs Villanova start time
Marquette vs Villanova odds
Odds courtesy of BetMGM as of Feb. 10
Marquette basketball schedule 2025-26
Here are the next five games for the Golden Eagles (all times Central):
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Despite Royce Parham’s big game, Marquette fumbles chance at road win
Reporting by Ben Steele, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
