Spurs were 3-0 down at Goodison Park, before they made the final score 3-2 in their Premier League contest.
Maddison was pleased they showed some fight, but knew it did not merit parity.
He told Sky Sports: "Too little too late, wasn't it? We're in a tough moment there's no denying it. It was a tough afternoon.
"They were quite direct but we should do better for the goals. We need to be more resilient, tougher to score against really, collectively. It was a tough first half.
"We're in a tough moment with a very depleted squad. There is no excuse for the first half. The message at half time was to be resilient and take a bit of pride and we nearly got back it into but it was too little too late. It was a tough afternoon.
"We had 11 fit senior players ready to start. There is context to it. Despite that, the first half was unacceptable. The fans will have their opinion and criticise, and rightly so. We just have to stare that in the face and take it on the chin. They probably don't want to see me talking too much, they want to a see a reaction and we've got an opportunity to do that at Hoffenheim on Thursday."