Shaka Smart sat at the podium inside the Fiserv Forum press conference room Wednesday night, minutes after No. 11 Marquette men’s basketball’s 69-62 loss to Butler.
His head hung low and his voice had a toneless solemnity to it.
“A really, really strange and disappointing game,” he said.
As Smart came to grips with the fact his team lost two straight games for the first time since the 2021-22 season, and the Golden Eagles’ 20-game home win streak against Big East opponents ended, he did not shy away from the reality of the situation: something needs to change before Marquette’s recent decline gets even worse.