It wasn't the senior night that Oso Ighodaro wanted, but he has bigger goals for the Marquette men's basketball team.

The eighth-ranked Golden Eagles showed some fight against No. 2 Connecticut on Wednesday night, but the Huskies had too much firepower and held on for a 74-67 victory at Fiserv Forum.

Box score: UConn 74, Marquette 67

"I know we lost tonight," Ighodaro said. "But our goal for the season wasn't to beat UConn at home.

"Our goal for the season was to win a national championship. We still haven't done that, and that's what I want my legacy to be."

Ighodaro was honored with fellow senior Tyler Kolek before the game, but Kolek didn't play because of an oblique injury. Ighodaro had to battle 7-foot-3 behemoth Donovan Clingan, and the MU center finished with 16 points and eight rebounds.

"There's for sure a lot of emotion, this being the last time in this gym with my best friends out here," Ighodaro said. "That went pretty quick. We just wanted to win the game, honestly.

"We got all our emotions out last night at dinner. Everyone was talking and let all that out. We just really wanted to go out there and win this game."

Alex Karaban and Cam Spencer scorch nets for UConn

The Huskies (27-3, 17-2 Big East) shot 13 for 26 (50%) on three-pointers. Alex Karaban scored 23 points to lead Connecticut. Karaban and Cam Spencer each hit 5 three-pointers.

"The way they executed their off-ball screening action, I thought we did a nice job early on in the game with it," Marquette coach Shaka Smart said. "But as the game went on, especially early in the second half, they really did a good job creating opportunities."

Connecticut also pulled down 16 offensive rebounds and finished with 19 second-chance points. It was reminiscent of the Huskies' 81-53 victory over MU on Feb. 17 in Hartford, Connecticut, when they had 21 second-chance points.

"I think what led to the offensive rebounds for them was just scrapping them out," Smart said. "They have a way of going with a variety of guys.

"Obviously they have the tallest guys on the court with Clingan. It's not so much the ones he gets, because those are expected. But they did a good job with (Stephon) Castle and Spencer and Tristen Newton and different guys on their team flying in there.

"So you have to have every single guy on your defensive end take care of his assignment. Of hitting someone and then going to grab the ball. There were times when most of our guys did it."

Stevie Mitchell, Kam Jones and Tre Norman show fight

With Connecticut dominating behind the arc and on the boards, that seemed like a recipe for a blowout like the first matchup between the teams.

But the Golden Eagles (22-8, 13-6) kept fighting back, even after the Huskies took a 70-56 lead with 7 minutes 54 seconds remaining.

The Golden Eagles got the deficit down to 72-64 with 2:23 left on a layup by Tre Norman. Then Ighodaro hit a free throw and David Joplin converted a fast-break layup.

MU was down, 72-67, with the ball and 24 seconds on the clock, but Joplin committed a turnover and fans started filing for the exits.

"I was proud of the guys," Ighodaro said. "We fought. I thought we played hard."

Kam Jones scored 18 points to lead MU, often having to run the offense with Kolek out.

The scrappy Golden Eagles also got good performances from Stevie Mitchell, who filled the stat sheet eight points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals. Norman, a freshman guard, took advantage of more playing time with nine points off the bench.

"I liked Stevie being Stevie," Smart said. "I thought Oso, you could tell that he was playing to go attack on my senior night. 'I'm going to make things happen.' I thought he did.

"Tre Norman was very good. I like the competitive fire in his eyes. That's the guy we recruited. He played with no fear. As a coach, you're always looking for little things to take out of games that guys can build on.

"And so, ironically, though this was a loss, this was a high, high level game. And Tre looked like he belonged. And so that's something he can get better from."

Oso Ighodaro hopes a healthy Marquette can make a deep run

The Golden Eagles have been hit by injuries and illness this season.

Ighodaro sat out Marquette's loss at Creighton on Saturday with a bad flu bug that was coursing through the team. Chase Ross was also sick and missed some practice time. Ross played only 19 minutes Wednesday, with Smart saying that Ross lacked the energy he usually has.

"I told the guys in the locker room afterwards, the real way to honor your seniors is what happens after senior night, the rest of the season," Smart said.

Ighodaro has an extra year of eligibility given by the NCAA to athletes who played in the COVID-impacted 2020-21 season, but he has said he is unlikely to use it.

Ighodaro would like to end his time at MU with a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.

"We've seen it all this season," Ighodaro said. "We just keep fighting. Keep battling.

"Hopefully we get Tyler back soon and get even more healthy. Everyone's bodies start to recover a little bit. And we're the best us in the tournament. That's the plan."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Marquette falls to Connecticut at Fiserv Forum without Tyler Kolek