In one of their best offensive efforts of 2012-13, the No. 24 Marquette men’s basketball team (17-5, 8-2 Big East) defeated DePaul (10-13, 1-9) 89-78 Saturday at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

Junior Cadougan and Vander Blue led the Golden Eagles with 17 and 18 points, respectively. Marquette shot 56 percent in each half, and scored a ridiculous 50 points in the paint, in part thanks to double-digit scoring efforts by centers Davante Gardner (13) and Chris Otule (10).

Part of Marquette’s success offensively resulted from DePaul playing man-to-man defense for most of the game. Cadougan and Blue attacked the rim constantly and with consistent success.

Even though they excelled offensively, the Golden Eagles struggled defensively, especially in regards to closing out open DePaul shooters. The Blue Demons made nine three-pointers and shot just under 50 percent for the game overall. Brandon Young paced DePaul with 21 points, while Worrell Clahar and Donnavan Kirk each scored 16.

On the bright side, Marquette held DePaul’s leading scorer, Cleveland Melvin, to just nine points and only seven shots from the field. Moreover, Marquette’s bench outscored DePaul’s 36-7.

Buzz Williams’ goal of making more free throws than the other team attempts came to fruition, as the Golden Eagles (24) made twice as many as DePaul (12) shot.

Jamil Wilson also scored in double figures for Marquette with 11, and Cadougan and Trent Lockett chipped in six and five assists respectively. That contributed to an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.0 for Marquette.

The Golden Eagles next meet No. 20 Georgetown in Washington on Monday night at 6:00 p.m. CT.