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Marquette Athletics

Wisconsin became the first team from the Big Ten's group of undefeated title contenders to drop a game against an unranked foe this season when the No. 4 Badgers lost 67-65 in crushing fashion at rival Marquette on Friday night in a nonconference rivalry showdown. Marquette freshman Justin Lewis tipped in a missed free-throw at the buzzer to win it for the Eagles, who improved to 3-1 with the victory.

As D.J. Carton's potential game-winning free throw bounced off the rim with just 0.9 seconds remaining, it appeared the game would be heading to overtime. But Lewis rose above Wisconsin's Micah Potter and tapped the ball back toward the rim as time expired. After rolling around the rim, the ball dropped in the basket and Lewis was swarmed by jubilant teammates.

Lewis, who was considered a four-star prospect and the No. 100 overall player in the 247Sports Composite for the 2020 class, led Marquette with 18 points on the night. But his standout effort appeared that it might be in a losing effort when the Badgers' D'Mitrik Trice hit a go-ahead jumper with just five seconds left. Then Carton, a sophomore transfer from Ohio State, managed to draw a foul on Trice just seconds later and get to three free-throw line.

After making the first, he missed the second, which led to Lewis' heroic buzzer-beater. 

Marquette is replacing the Big East's all-time leading scorer in Markus Howard. But Friday showed the Golden Eagles may have a bright future with Carton, Lewis and another four-star freshman forward in Dawson Garcia, who has already turned in a pair of double-digit scoring efforts.

For a Wisconsin team that opened with wins against Eastern Illinois, Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Green Bay, playing Marquette was its first real challenge, and the Badgers struggled offensively at times. With next Wednesday's game against Louisville up in the air due to COVID-19 issues within the Louisville program, the Badgers could have to wait until a game with Northern Iowa on Dec. 16 to get back on track.