The Fighting Illini went on the road for the first time this season and dropped a 67-66 heartbreaker to Marquette in the final seconds on Monday night. Despite a 23-point performance from Trent Frazier, the Golden Eagles forced 26 turnovers from the Illini offense.
"You're not going to win a basketball game on the road against a good basketball team if you turn the ball over 26 times, not really getting even a good look the last five minutes because we didn't execute," head coach Brad Underwood said. "We turned the ball over four times in that sequence. But really alarming the number of turnovers and the lack of ball movement. I thought Trent Frazier was great. I give Shaka (Smart) and his kids a ton of credit."
Illinois held an eight-point lead with over five minutes to go in the game, but struggled to create offense in the final minutes. Foul trouble by the Illini put the Golden Eagles in the double-bonus which led to an 8-1 run by Marquette, fueled by free throws alone.
A layup by Tyler Kolek with 18 seconds left in the game put Marquette up by one. While the Illini had one last chance, they were unable to convert.
The game featured a battle between seniors Frazier and Darryl Morsell who transferred to Marquette from Maryland in the offseason. Morsell put up 21 against the Illini while Frazier hit six three-pointers to put him past 250 treys in his career at Illinois.
"He hit shots and he made shots. He's confident in the timeout," Underwood said. "That's a kid that's in the locker room in tears, just turning it over late. But that's our guy. That's our guy. We were trying to get him shots, believe me. No one loves Trent Frazier more than me and the leadership he provides every single day is impactful."
Both teams had strong defensive stands in the first half as neither offense could form any consistency.
The Illini jumped out to a 7-2 lead, but the Golden Eagles countered with six straight points. Frazier started to get hot early in the half, going on a personal 9-1 run after hitting two threes.
Marquette stayed in the game by putting the pressure on Illinois, forcing 10 turnovers in the first 12 minutes. The Golden Eagles used a 12-2 run to get ahead of the Illini with four minutes left in the half.
Coleman Hawkins got hot near the end of the half, hitting a layup then slamming two dunks. Still, the Illini trailed 28-27 at the half after turning the ball over 15 times.
After halftime, the offense from both sides started flowing, starting with a couple baskets from Marquette. A 9-0 run, led by a jumper and a layup from Andre Curbelo put Illinois back on top.
While Marquette's Kolek hit a couple threes to bring the Golden Eagles within one point, the Illini wouldn't back down. A pair of dunks from Grandison and Omar Payne combined with two three-pointers and a couple free throws gave Illinois a 55-44 lead.
It looked like the Illini would begin to pull away after Hawkins drained a deep ball to give Illinois its biggest lead, 58-46, with 10 minutes left. Morsell began to lead Marquette back, hitting a couple jumpers and a layup to get within three points of the Illini.
Frazier hit his sixth trey of the night to give the Illini some more distance, but their foul trouble continued to give the Golden Eagles chances at the free throw line, leading to the loss.
The Illini will have a week off before heading to Kansas City for the Hall of Fame Classic. Illinois will first face off against Cincinnati on Monday evening and will have Kofi Cockburn back for his first game of the season.
