No. 5 Marquette men’s basketball knew it wasn’t going to be easy.
After all, it was without two of its best players, seniors Tyler Kolek and Oso Ighodaro, playing against No. 12 Creighton — on its Senior Day — in front of a hostile white-out crowd of 17,000 on the road.
The Golden Eagles stuck with the Bluejays for most of the game, going into the locker room trailing by two and staying within striking distance for a majority of the second half.
But as Creighton (22-8, 13-6 Big East) turned up the heat in the final minutes, it eventually proved to be too tall a task for Marquette (22-7, 13-5 Big East) as it was defeated 89-75 Saturday afternoon at CHI Health Center.