No. 23 Illinois silent down the stretch in loss to No. 4 Marquette

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A tale as old as time.

After wild offensive inconsistencies told the story for Brad Underwood’s squad last season, Illinois set out to change the narrative against fourth-ranked Marquette on Tuesday night at State Farm Center.

However, the same problems continued. Illinois’ stagnant offense and big performances from Marquette’s Tyler Kolek and Kam Jones propelled the Golden Eagles to a 71-64 win.

“Give them credit,” said head coach Brad Underwood. “We’re a really good basketball team. They were better tonight.”

HOW IT HAPPENED

Marquette (3-0) was scoreless in the first two minutes, but a 13-2 run put the Golden Eagles up early. Illinois (2-1) did not take the lead back for the rest of the first half, and a big reason why was the three-point shot.

It was a big trend that plagued the Illini last year, and it’s rearing its ugly head once again in this early season.

They failed to make a single three in the entire first half against Oakland,…