Full faith and credit to Marquette to locking down Butler in the closing moments last time out. Sure, letting a 19-0 second quarter run go to waste as they frittered away a 14 point lead at the start of
the fourth quarter down to getting lucky after committing a five second violation and Lee Volker hitting a free throw with 16 seconds left to dodge a problem isn’t a fun way to go through life.
But Marquette was also going through that particular moment in life without Jada Bediako or Skylar Forbes available. It’s unclear as to what’s up with Bediako, although it was the second straight game that she was out and also not on the bench. In Forbes’ case, she didn’t travel with the team to Indianapolis for what was called “personal reasons” on the ESPN+ broadcast. On one hand, it wasn’t the best possible Marquette roster that head coach Cara Consuegra could have put on the floor for 40 minutes…. on the other hand, did I mention that 19-0 run and the 14 point lead? And that game came just days after Marquette gutted out a road win over St. John’s in the wake of giving up massive runs to Seton Hall and Georgetown in a pair of losses. So, y’know: Yay for getting the W…. but I’ve got questions, and so should you.
We’ll see exactly what’s up with Marquette and Bediako and Forbes when the availability report comes out on Wednesday afternoon. If they’re out again, it’s probably about time for Consuegra to start explaining exactly what’s going on. If they’re back in the lineup, then it’s all systems go and time for the Golden Eagles to stack up a third straight win heading into this weekend’s rematch with Georgetown.
Big East Game #12: vs DePaul Blue Demons (5-17, 2-9 Big East)
Date: Wednesday, January 28, 2026
Time: 6:30pm Central
Location: Al McGuire Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Streaming: ESPN+, with Bob Brainerd and Chloe Marotta calling the action
Live Stats: Stat Broadcast
Bluesky Updates: @AnonymousEagle
Marquette is 40-49 all time against DePaul. The Blue Demons have controlled the series 23-22 since the two teams have joined the Big East, but the Golden Eagles have won 10 of the last 11 and each of the last eight in a row after an 85-54 victory in Chicago back in December.
I don’t think there’s anything particularly interesting to take away from Marquette’s first game against DePaul this season in terms of “how do the Golden Eagles approach a second meeting?” MU was up 7-0 and 18-5 during the first quarter before wrapping up the first 10 minutes up 23-9. The Golden Eagles won each of the remaining quarters by three, nine, and five points on their way to a 31 point victory and no one played more than 27 minutes. I guess the interesting statistical item is that Marquette wasn’t really knocking anyone’s socks off with 50.9% shooting overall and 38.9% from behind the three-point line. This wasn’t a game where Marquette couldn’t miss, it was more a game where DePaul couldn’t do anything but miss, so perhaps MU’s defensive effort against the Blue Demons is the interesting component there.
It will be a slightly different DePaul team this time around against Marquette. Aizhanique Mayo and Shakara McCline missed the first meeting, and they’ve been getting regular minutes for the Blue Demons as the squad has beaten Georgetown and Creighton in their last five games and at least made Seton Hall make sure they stayed down in an 86-77 loss. Not a lot, mind you, just enough to deepen DePaul’s rotation a little bit and lessen a little bit of the pressure on Katie Novik, the team’s leader in points, rebounds, and assists, and the only Blue Demon averaging in double digits at 12.1 points per game.
The biggest question for this game is whether or not Marquette comes ready to go. DePaul has the worst defense in the Big East in league action, both in terms of points per possession efficiency and shooting percentages. A locked in Marquette squad should be able to get quality shots and rip the Blue Demons’ defense apart. A not-quite-locked-in Marquette, one that let Butler wander back in from down 15 late in the third quarter and needed to make a free throw to avoid giving BU a shot to tie at the horn? That kind of Marquette is at risk of getting run over like Creighton did in DePaul’s 76-61 win last time out.
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