Marquette's offense gets stuck in the mud against Wisconsin
MADISON - There was a lot to be frustrated about for the third-ranked Marquette men's basketball team after its 75-64 loss to state rival Wisconsin on Saturday at the Kohl Center.
There was UW scoring 18 second-chance points to MU's two. There was the defense allowing Badgers guard Max Klesmit to score 21 points in the first half.
There was also the Golden Eagles' own high-octane offense that got stuck in the mud. They shot 41.8%, the worst mark this season for MU (6-2).
"I thought (UW) had good aggressiveness," MU head coach Shaka Smart said. "Honestly, they were more impressive to me on the offensive end than anything.
"But I thought on our offensive end, they played with good aggressiveness. I thought (Steven Crowl) was very good around the basket, just bothering some shots. (Tyler) Wahl is a good helper, he helps guys. (Chucky) Hepburn, Klesmit, they play with good physicality. But, honestly, we have to be better in a lot of the things we do."
The Golden Eagles shot an unsightly 7 for 29 (24.1%) on three-pointers. Those attempts amounted to over half of MU's shots.
"You don't predetermine the number of threes you are going to take," Smart said. "I think we played a game recently where we only shot in the low teens.
"So it's really based on the way that you're guarded. We shot (29), I'd take about 20-something of those. I'd say a handful of those were forced that we really should have passed the ball. Right now we're shooting not to miss too much, and those ones we shouldn't have taken. As a player you have to have the audacity to think you can make the shot."
Kam Jones was Marquette's best player
Sophomore Kam Jones was MU's best player with 19 points on 7-for-12 shooting.
"I think we guarded ourselves tonight more than Wisconsin did, honestly," Jones said. "Just man for man, I'm just speaking truth, they can't guard us. But we didn't make them guard us.
"Starting the game, we weren't as aggressive as we should have been, as we normally are and as we could've been. Big games like this? No. 3 team in the country? We can't allow that. We have to come out and lay it down from the tip. Because if you give anybody the right amount of confidence you can do anything."
Jones' teammates combined to shoot 4 for 22 from behind the arc. David Joplin had a game to forget by going 1 for 9 on three-pointers.
"We got a lot of guys struggling, at least (against Wisconsin)," Smart said. "My message to (Joplin) is 'I love you, I believe in you, and it takes what it takes.'
"So sometimes in life, two things can be true. He's going to have to look in the eye of what's really required for him to be his best. And he's not on an island in doing that, his coaches and teammates are going to continue to support him and help him and make sure he knows we have his back.
"But right now, he's going to have to find some controllable factors in basketball to build a level of confidence about some of the less-controllable factors, like whether the ball goes in when you shoot it. As a junior in college, that's a lesson that guys have got to learn.
"But he's not the only one on our team. Tyler Kolek is the same thing. We got a lot of guys on our team that people have said nice things about. And everything that's been said has been true when we've been our best us. And today we weren't our best us."
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Marquette's offense struggles in 75-64 loss to rival Wisconsin
