The Golden Eagles finished off their exhibition slate with an 86-79 victory over Michigan State, which is ranked No. 6 in the preseason Associated Press poll, on Oct. 25 at Fiserv Forum.
In the preseason, MU also played a closed-door scrimmage with Colorado and a road game at UW-Green Bay.
"Really glad to have the exhibition season over so we can get ready for the real thing in eight days," MU head coach Shaka Smart said. "These exhibition games are great opportunities, great reps for our guys.
"But they feel a little strange because as a coach and a player you're just playing. You're playing to win, but the game doesn't count. We're 0-0 but we got some valuable lessons from these reps that we've had."
Here are a few of those lessons:
Alex Egbuonu shows his potential as a freshman
MU freshman Alex Egbuonu made the most of his 13 minutes, scoring a team-high 14 points.
The 6-foot-7 forward has made big strides in practice in recent weeks, according to the coaching staff.
"Definitely just putting in a lot of work," Egbuonu said. "On the court before practice, a lot of that has been helping me.
"Definitely working on my shot."
Like all freshman who play for Smart, Egbuonu will have to also lock in on the defensive end to earn playing time in the regular season.
"He's very conscientious," Smart said. "He really wants to learn and do the right thing.
"As a freshman, there is a real learning curve. But I'll tell you this about him. He's smart, he's very team oriented, he can really put the ball in the basket. I would put him up there with Royce (Parham), they're kind of our two most just natural scorers. If you're trying to get a basket, those two are the guys who you want the ball in their hands.
"I think the biggest thing is on the defensive end, he's learning to be competent, and in time he can be even better than out. Because when you can really score, and this was the case with Jop (David Joplin) early in his career, then it's like, OK, we love you're scoring and you need that but we really need you to be competent on this end of the floor."
Another good 3-point shooting night for Marquette
An eye-popping stat for the Golden Eagles over their two public games was their 3-point shooting. MU was 14 for 24 from long range against UW-Green Bay and finished 9 for 18 against Michigan State.
MU shot 31.8% on 3-pointers last season, the No. 289 mark in the country.
Egbuonu made four 3-pointers. He has been working on his stroke.
"Definitely I was off to a rough start throughout the preseason, even in Canada (on an international tour)," Egbuonu said. "So that's been a big focus for me leading into this game."
MU's lead was cut to 52-47 with 12:41 remaining, but Adrien Stevens (12 points) and Sananda Fru (eight pounds) combined for three 3-pointers in the next two minutes to ease the pressure.
Royce Parham leads strong efford on boards for Marquette
Smart has long admired the Tom Izzo-coached teams at Michigan State because of their physicality and toughness.
MU hung tough.
"I thought our guys battled on the glass," Smart said. "That was a huge emphasis coming into the game.
"We actually got some fouls called on us in that rebounding scrum. Which I always tell the guys we don't get enough of those. We need to have more of those type of fouls to indicate we're going after it with reckless abandon."
Parham led the way with eight rebounds.
"Especially me, in was in the front of our minds," Parham said. "In the last couple scrimmages and all that, I was rebounding well.
"I was telling my coaches to really just get in my blood about rebounding and stuff like that."
Marquette's biggest issue has been taking care of the ball
After MU's exhibition victory over UW-Green Bay, Golden Eagles players and coaches bemoaned sloppy turnovers.
Against Michigan State, MU coughed the ball up an unsightly 24 times.
"We got a long way to go with that," Smart said. "Most of those turnovers were not forced by us. They could have been prevented.
"I always say guys aren't trying to turn the ball over, but we need to try harder to not turn the ball over."
Parham said the MU players are getting sped up.
"You just got to be in the right spot and slow down," Parham said. "Just relax. Because we're a really good team at handling the ball."
Marquee matchup between Nigel James Jr. and Jeremy Fears Jr.
The game was a battle between two of the top point guards in the nation, the Golden Eagles’ Nigel James Jr. and the Spartans’ Jeremy Fears Jr.
James had 11 points and seven assists, but committed eight of MU’s turnovers. Fears had 18 points and seven assists.
"The two supposed superstars on each team … I wasn't upset with Jeremy, I wasn't upset with James," Izzo said. "I don't think they had particularly great nights for as good as I think both of them are.
"Because we all know (James) is going to be really good. So they did it with him just being, let's just say, good. He wasn't superhuman. I like the kid. I like the way he handles himself."
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Freshman Alex Egbuonu helps Marquette beat No. 6 MSU in exhibition