After scoring 16 points in the first 7:28 of the game, the Marquette Golden Eagles cooled off dramatically, scoring just nine in the final 12:32 of the first half and trail the Xavier Musketeers 28-25 at halftime.

Marquette is without leading scorer Matt Carlino for the second consecutive game, but it appeared the Golden Eagles would not need him in the early going. Marquette got several easy baskets in the first few minutes of the half and broke out to a 16-5 lead on the middling Musketeers.

Then the offense went ice cold. So cold that Marquette scored only nine points in the final 12 and a half minutes of the half. Xavier closed the gap to two points with a 9-0 run that was answered with an and-one lay up by Jajuan Johnson to extend the lead back to five. The Musketeers went on a 10-0 run to take its first lead of the game with under three minutes to play.

Senior Juan Anderson leads the Golden Eagles with nine points, including a buzzer-beating three. Luke Fischer scored six quick points in the first five minutes, but didn’t score again the rest of the half. Marquette is shooting 40.7 percent from the floor and has nine assists on 11 made baskets.

Marquette did a good job of limiting Xavier big man Matt Stainbrook in the first 20 minutes. Stainbrook along with Trevon Bluiett lead Xavier in scoring, but with only five points each. Stainbrook has struggled to find a comfort zone and is just 2-of-6 from the floor.

Both teams have played pretty evenly in a game full of runs, but one difference has been 3-point shooting. Marquette is just 2-of-6 from downtown, while Xavier is 4-of-8 from deep.