Coming off two consecutive nonconference defeats at home, Marquette looks to right the ship on Saturday as it hosts Central Michigan in Milwaukee.
Marquette (3-3) has fallen to both high-major opponents it has faced in Indiana and Maryland, and then took a brutal 77-71 overtime defeat against Dayton on Wednesday.
While Marquette has made the NCAA Tournament in each of Shaka Smart’s first four seasons as coach, the Golden Eagles’ at-large hopes for this season have already taken a big hit.
Smart defended his lack of usage of the transfer portal to acquire talent after Wednesday’s loss.
“We’ve had a lot of success around here the way we’ve gone about things,” Smart said. “It’s not new. … I’ve been doing this a long time, criticism comes with the territory. But if you look at the way our process has gone, in the time that we’ve been here, I think it’s been pretty good.”
Freshman Nigel James Jr. played the most minutes (38) of his young career and led Marquette with 18 points, but on just 5-of-16 shooting. Chase Ross had 15 on 5-of-14 shooting.
Shooting has generally been a problem for the Golden Eagles early this season. They’ve shot below 40% from the field and below 30% from 3-point range in each of their three losses, ranking 287th in field goal percentage and 267th in 3-point percentage.
Central Michigan (2-3) is coming off a 90-66 home loss against Northern Kentucky on Thursday. The Chippewas allowed 13 3-pointers and committed 19 turnovers, which led to 26 points for the Norse.
“There were some bright spots in there, but certainly not enough,” head coach Andy Bronkema said. ” … Part of the process of becoming the best you can be is taking some lumps. We’re going to try to avoid them, but we’re going to stick together and do what we do.”
Marquette is 3-0 all-time against Central Michigan, though the Golden Eagles were challenged just a year ago. CMU trailed by as little as five points in the second half before Marquette prevailed 70-62.
