One of the most roller coaster regular seasons in recent Xavier men's basketball history wrapped up Saturday afternoon.

In fitting fashion, Xavier knocked at the door of a win over one of the Big East's top teams but couldn't break through in an 86-80 loss to No. 8 Marquette at Cintas Center.

"We didn't have enough," Xavier head coach Sean Miller said. "There's been so many different moments where we've been close, but we just didn't have enough. Now that becomes our quest, my job, to fix that."

Xavier falls to 3-12 in Quadrant 1 games this season and 0-6 against the league's top-3 teams (UConn, Creighton and Marquette). The Musketeers will head to New York City next week and are slated to play in the Big East Tournament opener. Xavier (15-16) needs three wins in Manhattan to record its 28th consecutive winning season.

Here's what we learned in Saturday's regular-season finale.

5 observations from Xavier Musketeers' loss to Marquette

Xavier to face Butler at Madison Square Garden

Xavier entered Saturday needing a win and some help to move up in the Big East standings. The winner of the 8/9 matchup next Wednesday at Madison Square Garden has to play No. 1 UConn in Thursday's quarterfinals. To avoid the 8/9 game, Xavier needed a win, a Villanova loss to No. 10 Creighton and a Providence loss to UConn in Rhode Island.

Xavier checked one box before taking the floor, when Trey Alexander's game-winning runner in the lane lifted Creighton over Villanova at Finneran Pavilion. However, Xavier couldn't handle the second part of the equation and will now face Butler in the first round of the Big East Tournament Wednesday afternoon.

"We're gonna take this loss and not focus too much on it. We've got the postseason now. We've got to lock in and come together," guard Dayvion McKnight said.

Olivari puts on a show in final home game

It was only fitting that Quincy Olivari, the lone Musketeer without any college eligibility remaining after this season, would lead Xavier's upset bid. Olivari, who is shooting 48.9% from the perimeter and averaging 21.4 points per game at home this season, had 23 of his game-high 32 points in the second half.

Olivari, who is chasing Xavier's single-season 3-point record, was 7-of-13 from the field in the second half and gave Xavier its largest lead of the night at 46-41.

"I'll never forget the love that I received here (Xavier)," Olivari said. "Everybody's showing love. I definitely wanted to win this game for my team, but I wanted to win the game for the fans. The fans deserve this every game. I'll definitely never forget the love and the unwavering support the city and the fans showed me."

Miller added: "He (Olivari) has been a godsend. He's had an incredible year, and his 32 points is a big reason we were right there to have a chance to win today's game."

Xavier's Big 3 of Olivari, McKnight and Desmond Claude, which had its worst performance in the loss to Marquette in Milwaukee, combined for 61 points.

McKnight had 16 points and 8 assists while Claude added 15.

Marquette still has plenty of firepower

Marquette had lost its previous two games while missing reigning Big East Player of the Year Tyler Kolek, who is dealing with an oblique injury. The Golden Eagles still have weapons on the offensive end, though, and showcased their arsenal Saturday after a slow start. The 1-2 punch of junior guard Kam Jones and senior forward Oso Ighodaro combined for 31 of Marquette's 37 first-half points on 13-of-17 shooting.

Jones, who tied a career-high with 34 points in Marquette's win over Xavier last month in Milwaukee, scored seven points as part of a 12-3 run to give the Golden Eagles a 37-33 lead at the break. With Xavier's defense fixated on the perimeter, Ighodaro feasted inside against a Musketeer frontcourt that has struggled all season. Ighodaro was 6-of-8 from the field in the first half, with multiple floaters in the lane and contested finishes at the rim.

With Ighodaro in foul trouble for most of the second half, Marquette leaned on Jones, who finished with a team-high 30 points. Jones hit a step-back 3-pointer late in the shot clock to give Marquette a 75-73 lead with 3:29 remaining. With the shot clock winding down again a few possessions later, Jones hit a runner over McKnight to make it 80-76 Golden Eagles with less than two minutes remaining.

Jones' lay-in with 46 seconds left gave Marquette a six-point lead and the Golden Eagles put the game away at the foul line.

"Kam Jones, he's one of the best players I've coached against as a guard," Miller said. "It is so easy for him. It wasn't like we were breaking down or not trying."

Overall, Jones and Ighodaro combined for 54 points on 23-of-32 shooting.

"We couldn't guard those guys," Miller said.

Marquette shot 66.7% from the field in the second half and got big 3-pointers from Ben Gold (8 points) and Stevie Mitchell (11 points).

Lazar Djokovic sees bump in usage

The loss of Dailyn Swain and Sasa Ciani (heel) has left an already depleted frontcourt searching for answers. Freshman Lazar Djokovic, who has been in and out of the rotation several times this season, saw a season-high 33 minutes Saturday night.

Djokovic finished with 9 points on 3-of-3 shooting (3-of-4 at the free-throw line) and tied Abou Ousmane for a team-high 6 rebounds.

Turnovers tell the story

One of the biggest things Xavier had to avoid to have a shot at upsetting the Golden Eagles were turnovers. Marquette entered the regular-season finale No. 15 in the nation in turnover percentage, per KenPom, while leading the Big East in takeaways.

Xavier couldn't avoid the same poor ball security that led to an early double-digit hole in Wednesday's loss to Butler at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The Musketeers shot over 50% from the field for the majority of the first half, but eight costly turnovers resulted in empty, shotless possessions and Marquette turned that into 10 points on the other end.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Big East takeaways: Xavier ends regular season with loss to Marquette