Field Level Media
Nov 13, 2019
Koby McEwen scored 23 points and Markus Howard added 18 to lift host Marquette past Purdue 65-55 at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on Wednesday night as part of the Gavitt Games between the Big Ten and Big East.
A resurgent second half helped Marquette earn the program's first victory against Purdue in 10 tries, as the Golden Eagles outscored the Boilermakers 40-17 in the final 20 minutes.
A McEwen trey from the left wing with 6:26 remaining tied the game at 49 before Marquette grabbed its first lead of the night on Sacar Anim's driving layup 1:43 later to make it 54-52.
Referees whistled Aaron Wheeler for an offensive foul -- his fifth -- on Purdue's ensuing possession, extending the Boilermakers' woes down the stretch. Before that, Purdue took a 52-49 lead on a Jahaad Proctor 3-pointer with 6:04 to go before surrendering an 11-0 Marquette run over the next 4:30.
The Boilermakers missed their final 10 attempts from the field. Matt Haarms led Purdue with 14 points and eight rebounds, while Proctor had 13 points.
Purdue opened the game on a 9-0 run in the first 2:42, with Proctor and Haarms accounting for each point during the surge. The Golden Eagles recovered from the sluggish start, pulling to within 19-17 on a four-point play from Howard at the 8:50 mark, but another scoring drought caught up to Marquette soon enough.
The Boilermakers went on a 16-1 run over the next 6:32, with six different players scoring during the spurt. Rolling behind 44.1 percent shooting in the first 20 minutes, Purdue led by as many as 18 points during the first half before taking a 38-25 lead into the break.
Purdue limited Marquette to 29.6-percent shooting in the first half while outrebounding the Golden Eagles by 11. Marquette scored just 11 points in the half-court before intermission.
Struggles at the free-throw line by the Boilermakers helped the Golden Eagles remain close. Purdue went just 3-for-10 from the line in the first half and shot 9-for-21 for the game.
Marquette shot 38.5 percent compared to 33.9 percent for Purdue. Theo John grabbed nine rebounds for the Golden Eagles.
The loss snapped the Boilermakers' four-game winning streak against Big East opponents.
--Field Level Media