WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Marquette men's basketball team had an early signature road victory in its sights.

But the young Golden Eagles let their chances slip away, going cold down the stretch in a 75-70 loss to Purdue in the Gavitt Tip-Off Games on Tuesday in Mackey Arena.

MU (2-1) had a nine-point lead midway through the second half and a 62-59 advantage with 5:46 remaining. But the Boilermakers (3-0) hit back with a 12-0 run and the Golden Eagles were staggered.

Box score:Purdue 75, Marquette 70

"First of all, Purdue deserves a lot of credit for the plays they made," Smart said. "A lot of things we would have liked to do different in that stretch.

"Transition defense. (Purdue guard) Braden Smith was really pushing the ball in transition and they were hitting our guards. We were getting hit and it was getting us off balance or bad matchups and he was going to create. I thought that was one thing.

"Then on the offensive end, again, I thought we got a little discombobulated. We did not move the ball as well as we needed to."

That frigid stretch included eight missed shots and two turnovers for MU. It finally ended when Kam Jones made a three-pointer with 25 seconds left.

"Offensively, we kind of got out of our flow," Jones said. "What we were doing the whole game. We just got to settle down, myself and everybody.

"Defensively, that's just unacceptable that they scored 12 consecutive points. Twelve unanswered points, we got to do better than that. We just got to learn from it and move on."

Kam Jones and David Joplin get hot for Marquette

In the first 35 minutes there was a lot to like for MU. After a slow start to the season, Jones scored 16 points in the first half, including 4 for 8 on three-pointers. He scored seven quick points as MU raced out to a 13-7 lead.

That late three was Jones' only bucket in the second half.

"I just come out with a mindset of taking what the defense gives me," Jones said.

MU's other flammable scorer, David Joplin, scored all of his team-high 21 points in the second half, making all five of his three-point attempts in the final 20 minutes.

Joplin scored 16 of MU's 18 points during a red-hot five-minute stretch to give the Golden Eagles a 56-47 advantage with 10:55 remaining. But the Golden Eagles couldn't sustain that momentum.

"We got really, really dependent on one guy in the first half and one guy in the second half," Smart said. "That's not really how we want to play."

Marquette battles on the boards with Purdue

The Golden Eagles hung tough despite the Boilermakers' size advantage.

Zach Edey, Purdue's 7-foot-4 behemoth, finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds. But MU still pulled down 15 offensive rebounds.

"I thought our guys really fought on the glass," Smart said. "Purdue's a big, physical team. And I thought the way our guys kept basketballs alive was huge for us. If we would have won tonight, that would have been why. Because of getting extra possessions. We had 16 more field-goal attempts than them.

"Now they went to the foul line a lot more than us, which is a huge difference. And they made 9 threes."

The Golden Eagles' guards got in on the action, with Jones and Kolek each pulling down six rebounds. Joplin had a team-high nine boards.

"In the off-season, we were preaching how we were kind of undersized and the guards and wings, we were really going to have to help rebound," Jones said. "It's been a big emphasis all off-season. So we just came out and do what we do."

Marquette has plenty to learn with quick turnaround

The Golden Eagles have plenty to clean up. They let Smith, Purdue's 6-foot freshman guard, get loose for six straight points for a 65-62 lead and the game spiraled from there. He finished with 20 points and three assists.

"As a freshman guard, to have the wherewithal to be as aggressive as he was in the second half, particularly in the last quarter of the game, was a huge difference-maker," Smart said.

MU won't have long to dwell on the loss, though, with a matchup with Long Island University on Thursday at Fiserv Forum.

"Regardless of whether we win or lose, it's Nov. 15," Smart said. "Coming out of this game, our goal is to grow.

"We have a young team. We got a lot of guys that are just getting their feet wet in terms of playing at this level. And so we look at the tape. We improve. We get better.

"I told the guys there's no locker room I would rather be in, win or lose. We got a great group of guys on our team and we have a great group in terms of understanding we all need to grow. Me too. There's stuff we can all do better than we did tonight. And we're excited about that."

More:Shaka Smart excited about signing three 2023 recruits, but Marquette will need to make room for them

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Marquette loses to Purdue 75-70 at Mackey Arena in Gavitt Games