After rolling past two mid-majors in Mercyhurst and Detroit Mercy to open the season, Marquette traveled to Ann Arbor to kick off a tough non-conference schedule against the defending National Champions, Michigan. We know that this year’s team is better than the previous one, but we also know that with the new faces, it will take some time to come together. Wednesday night’s uneven performance against a good Michigan team underlined the growth opportunities of a “team in progress,” but also flashed some of the great potential that the 2026-27 Golden Eagles have, as Marquette fell to the Wolverines 84-70.
Let’s start with the bad. Marquette shot just 35% from the field on the night, and at one point went on a 3-17 shooting stretch. And these weren’t all deep, contested shots. The shot chart displays plenty of red around the basket, where Marquette struggled to get anything going around the rim. This was in large part due to early foul trouble by new Marquette big man Sananda Fru, who’s playing time was limited to 12 minutes in the first half after two fouls early in the contest, but also from the supporting cast, who had a hard time converting against the size of Michigan’s front court.
Last year’s Big East Freshman of the Year Nigel James Jr. also contributed to the poor shooting stat line as his early season struggles continue. James Jr. produced the worst game of his career, going scoreless on 0-11 shooting. He also had just 1 assist to 4 turnovers. Confidence seems to be the big issue here, with James Jr. playing more passively instead of leaning into his strengths of speed and aggressiveness towards the basket. If there’s anyone that can fix a confidence issue, its coach Shaka Smart, and James Jr. will certainly rise out of this early season slump and recover the dominance from the point that we saw last season.
I mentioned an uneven game earlier. That may be an understatement. What started out as a defensive slog turned into a game of scoring runs. Without being able to establish any sort of consistency, Marquette did manage to put together a couple of scoring chunks, but to their own detriment, they gave up even more. Michigan went on three different scoring runs of 10+ points, including closing out the first half on a 20-5 scoring run. This is an obvious result of the shooting woes, but also an indicator of poor performance in one of Marquette’s most prideful parts of their play: putting together consecutive stops on defense. It just wasn’t the case on Wednesday with the Wolverines scoring in chunks on their way to a 52% shooting night. Michigan’s size was able to dominate around the basket to the tune of 36 points in the paint, and outrebounded Marquette 45-33.
Now for the good, because there were definitely bright spots across an otherwise frustrating night. The brightest spots came from the play of a pair of guards, Adrien Stevens and Colin Porter. Adrien Stevens seems to really be coming into his own and may be on the verge of a breakout season. Stevens scored 16 points on 6 of 10 shooting, including 4-6 from behind the arc. Not only did he convert, but he also looked really good doing it against Michigan’s talented backcourt. Fifth-year senior Liberty transfer Colin Porter may have won the night, however. At just 5’9″, Porter’s scrappy nature and high motor were a problem for Michigan as soon as he subbed in for the struggling Nigel James Jr. Porter ended up outpacing James Jr. in minutes 20-18 as Shaka decided to play the hot hand. Porter ended up with 21 points on 7-11 shooting, including 5 threes, not to be outdone by his constant chirping with Michigan’s All-American candidate Elliot Cadeau. It’s exactly what Marquette needs off their bench, and on a night strung with flaws, Porter may have just won the hearts of Marquette nation with the play that reflects the culture of Marquette basketball.
You expect some inconsistent performance early in the year with new players and rotations in a tough road environment against a tough team. With some exciting positives to take away, Marquette will need to improve around the rim, spark their star point guard Nigel James Jr., and stay out of foul trouble if they want to create consistency and improve as they continue to move forward through their tough non-conference schedule. Next up is the Legends Classic in Chicago against Missouri on Sunday.
Covered and written by: Micah
