'They're a tournament team.' Butler has Marquette's respect as Golden Eagles earn a split.

INDIANAPOLIS — During Marquette's summer trip overseas to Italy, coach Shaka Smart wanted to teach his players a lesson on gladiators.

Smart said playing in the Big East is like going to battle in the Coliseum, and the best gladiators can block out the noise of the crowd and focus on defeating their opponent.

"The guys that compete in this league, not just our team, are gladiators," Smart said, "and then everyone who watches the game and comments on the game and writes about the game, that's the crowd."

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After two hard-fought games against Butler, Smart said the Bulldogs have the right leader calling the shots in Thad Matta, and players capable of making noise come March.

"I absolutely think they're a tournament team," Smart said of Butler. "I'm not on the committee. ... And I'm a little biased toward the Big East, but first of all I think Thad Matta is a hell of a coach.

"I think what he's done with so many new guys this year, culturally in terms of how they act, interact and respond — it's impressive."

Tuesday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse, Marquette defeated Butler, 78-72, in a physical battle that would make Maximus blush. Even with Butler's powerful, big-bodied forwards Jahmyl Telfort and Pierre Brooks II on the perimeter, and Jalen Thomas controlling the paint, the Golden Eagles took it to the Bulldogs inside. The visitors out-scored Butler 46-20 in the paint, showing a determination they lacked in their loss at home to the Dawgs in January.

Reigning Big East Player of the Year Tyler Kolek led Marquette with 27 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Oso Ighodaro added 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Butler freshman Finley Bizjack did his best to keep Butler in the game scoring 16 of his 19 points in the second half, but his strong offensive performance was not enough.

"It was a heck of a challenging game," Smart said. "Give Butler a lot of credit for the way they fought and battled. We knew that this was going to be a hard place to come in and win.

"Butler just out-toughed us at our place and came and took the game. Our guys have done a really good job of being motivated and connected around wanting to come back here and get one."

The loss prevented Butler from adding its fifth Quad 1 win of the season. According to ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi, heading into Tuesday, Butler would qualify for the NCAA Tournamtnt as one of the last four teams with a bye, avoiding a Play-In game and earning a 10 seed in the Midwest bracket.

Even without a second win against Marquette, Butler's resume seems automatic bid worthy. The Dawgs played No. 1 UConn tight twice and have an impressive road win over a ranked Creighton team. Texas Tech continues to make Butler's nonconference win over the Red Raiders look better and better. Tech earned its fourth Quad 1 win with a dominant 79-50 win over No. 6 Kansas on Monday.

Butler has a Top-40 offense, the eighth-best free throw shooting percentage in the nation and the 11th-best strength of schedule, per KenPom, all strong indicators of a tournament team.

Butler's toughest remaining test is Saturday's game at home against Creighton. A loss won't disqualify Butler from the tournament, but struggling against the bottom half of the Big East down the stretch could sour the selection committee's opinion of the Dawgs.

Matta said the thought of ending Butler's NCAA tournament drought is not on his player's minds. March is still a few weeks away. Matta knows if his team doesn't play well now, they can forget about the Madness.

"I've never done that," Matta said of looking forward to the NCAA tournament. "I'm sure those guys talk about it. ... But we've got to be better on Saturday than we were tonight. That's where my focus is.

"And I know this, March doesn't matter if we don't take care of February."

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Butler basketball loses to Marquette, but 'they're a tournament team.'