“Disappointing loss. We felt our team had every opportunity to win that game tonight, and defensively, we didn’t get the job done,” Marshall head coach Travis Carroll said. “We came out early in the game and didn’t get defensive stops. We came out early in the second half, and then we don’t get defensive stops, and it comes down to defense. 80 points is too many points to be given up to win basketball games … We need to turn the corner over on defense.”

Marshall entered the second half down by two possessions, 43-39, after a back-and-forth opening half. The Tigers were fighting a deficit nearly the entire game, but didn’t let up on their fight.

Voigt, a strong force on both ends of the night that challenged Willmar, grabbed a crucial steal, drew a foul and made a free throw to pull Marshall back within a possession, 74-71, with 44.5 seconds to play.

Patrick Morman followed that up with a steal and layup of his own to make it a 1-point game as the clock ran down to 25.9 seconds.

Marshall's Noah Pieper goes up for a fast break layup in the first half against Willmar Saturday night.

Marshall began to intentionally foul the rest of the way, as Willmar continued to make its free throws to ultimately come away with the win.

Morman hit a corner 3-pointer with 1.2 seconds left to bring the score to 78-76, as the Tigers fouled once more, yet the Cardinals again hit their final pair of free throws and didn’t leave enough time on the clock for Marshall to make a final play attempt to end the game.

Willmar finished the night going 13 of 19 from the foul line, while Marshall shot 5 of 9.

In return, the Tigers had 11 3-pointers to the Cardinals’ five.

“76 [points] should win a game. With 76 points and a game like today, [that] should be enough to win,” Carroll said. “What Willmar ran defensively with their man and zones and the press, our guys did a good job running and were able to get some open looks. We had some tough turnovers in the first half, had a couple of tough ones in the second half. But, when we weren’t turning the basketball over, we got some good looks. It just kind of comes back to the defensive end of the floor, and being more committed to defense.”

Marshall's JR Vierstraete begins to go up for a shot in the first half against Willmar Saturday night.

Morman also finished in double-figure scoring with 16 points on 6 of 9 shooting. Voigt finished the night shooting 54% from the field along with a team-high three steals and two blocks. Levi Maeyaert and Voigt also shared a team-high of a trio of 3-pointers.

Five different Cardinals finished in double figures to lead Willmar.

Willmar initially opened the second half on a 12-5 run to build a 55-44 lead, and made a few switches between zone and man coverage as time went on.

Voigt continued to attack the rim and had a handful of pull-up jumpers in the paint throughout the night. Back-to-back baskets from the sophomore forward brought the Tigers back within single digits, 62-53, with just under eight minutes left.

3-pointers from Morman, Maeyaert, and Voigt helped Marshall bring Willmar’s lead down to 3, 69-66, down the stretch with 2:50 to play.

Marshall's Levi Maeyaert facilitates the offense in the first half against Willmar Saturday night.

Voigt hit a few more interior shots while both teams began to apply a press, heading into the final minute of the game.

Marshall fought early troubles in the first half with protecting the ball to offer up a string of turnovers, but were able to find answers on the offensive end.

Willmar finished with 10 turnovers to the Tigers’ 13.

Voigt had 6 of Marshall’s first 13 points, and led the Tigers with 11 first-half points and his two blocks.

Morman sparked some momentum with three consecutive driving layups himself to pull the Tigers into a 22-19 deficit, just as Rocco Rignell and Noah Pieper hit back-to-back 3-pointers from opposite sides of the arc soon after as Marsahll trailed 32-31 with just over four minutes to go in the half.

Marshall's Andrew Lee brings the ball up the court in the first half against Willmar Saturday night.

The Cardinals pulled back ahead between a 3-pointer and a pair of layups, yet a 3 from Voigt and Carson Mensink got Marshall back within a possession, 41-39, before Willmar hit a final field goal to head into the locker room up by 4 points.

Saturday was Marshall’s fourth time playing a state-ranked opponent in its past six games, and came into the weekend off a recent 61-42 win over Worthington that snapped a three-game skid.

Willmar (11-3) came into Saturday looking to get back in the win column after dropping three straight games, but otherwise started the season 10-0.

“We are learning that we can play with these teams, but we’re also learning where we need to get better at, and we just need to show more progress in those areas that we need to continue to improve in,” Carroll said. “It’s great that we’re playing these teams and having these opportunities to play, and like I said, we thought today was a great opportunity for us to get a win. At the end of the day, we’re right there at the end, there’s just some things that need to change.”

The Tigers were also without senior guard Davion Xayarath, who was sidelined for the night with an injury.

Marshall (7-8) will next go on a four-game road trip beginning at Mankato West (6-9) on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m. The Tigers will return home on Feb. 10 when they host Redwood Valley.