A late second half surge helped out by contributions from freshmen Vander Blue and Davante Gardner propelled Marquette to a 72-61 comeback victory over Bucknell Sunday afternoon.
The Golden Eagles trailed by as many as 13 points in the second half, but a decisive 24-0 run to end the contest gave Marquette its second win to start the season.
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Blue and Gardner combined for 13 of Marquette’s points during the run, including 11 straight at one point. Gardner, who played just 12 minutes off the bench, made the most of his time by scoring 11 points and grabbing seven rebounds. Blue finished with eight points, two assists, and two steals in the win.
Senior Dwight Buycks, who led the Golden Eagles in scoring with 17 points, said the stellar play from the freshmen was a key factor in the comeback win.
“They did an awesome job,” Buycks said. “We needed them bad and they helped us. They made critical plays down the stretch, got steals when we needed them, and made plays. That’s all we can ask for.”
The Bison shot lights out from the floor to open the game, shooting 68 percent from the field and hitting seven of its 10 three-point attempts in the first half. Leading the way was sophomore Bryson Johnson, who had 15 points on five threes in the opening half. Bucknell finished the first half on an 11-3 run to take a 41-33 lead heading into intermission.
The beginning of the second half was more of the same, as the Bison extended their lead to 13 with a thunderous dunk from sophomore Mike Muscala. However, head coach Buzz Williams noted that his team did not back down from the challenge once it was presented to them.
“I thought we had every opportunity to just shut it down and go, ‘Man, it didn’t work out,’” Williams said. “But I thought they really hung in there.”
Trailing 57-45 at the 10:15 mark in the second half, Marquette reeled off the game’s next 24 points to take a 12-point lead, the biggest of the afternoon. They also used stifling defense during the run to keep Bucknell without a single point for a nine minute, 30-second stretch. Williams noted Gardner and sophomore Junior Cadougan as key players in Marquette’s second half domination.
The Golden Eagles scored 30 points in the paint and received 47 points off the bench, but uncharacteristically shot just five-of-13 from beyond the arc. Junior Jae Crowder, who finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds, said offensive balance, in particular shots from the outside, will come in time as players become more comfortable in their roles.
“This team is very balanced but we’re not proving it now because we’re not knocking down open jumpers consistently,” Crowder said. “But once that comes along everyone will see we are a very balanced team.”
Jimmy Butler scored nine of his 11 points in the first half to keep Marquette in it, while Darius Johnson-Odom came off the bench and struggled with just eight points.
The contest was the first of two games Marquette will play in the regional round of the CBE Classic, with the second coming Wednesday night against Wisconsin-Green Bay.
The Golden Eagles will then travel to Kansas City during Thanksgiving weekend to finish the tournament, where they will play Duke and one of Kansas State or Gonzaga.