University of Connecticut’s Tyler Polley scored a career-best 22 points against Marquette Tuesday night. (Photo courtesy of Marquette Athletics.)

For the first time since the University of Connecticut’s return to the BIG EAST July 1, the Golden Eagles hosted the Huskies at Fiserv Forum. It was a complete reversal of the Georgetown game, as Marquette’s second-half collapse turned an 18-point lead into an 11-point defeat as UConn took home the 65-54 victory.

“At times this group can play really good basketball, but we haven’t shown the consistency needed in BIG EAST play to beat really good teams across the board,” Marquette head coach Steve Wojciechowski said. “It’s something with our group we have to continue to work on and grow through. … I have to do a better job at coaching.”

Prior to the game, Marquette announced the decision to wear black uniforms to stand in solidarity with Jacob Blake and the Kenosha community. It was announced earlier Tuesday that no charges were filed against any officers involved in the shooting.

“Our program has decided to wear Black uniforms for tonight’s game in support of Jacob Blake, his family and the Kenosha community in reaction to the announcement earlier today. We are extremely disappointed involving Jacob’s shooting and we will continue to use our platform to advocate and fight for racial justice. This is another reminder that just because racial and social injustice hasn’t received as much attention recently, doesn’t mean thinned to fight against it has gone away,” the statement said.

Wojciechowski said his team feels very passionate about the Blake shooting and that is why they wanted to come together and make a statement.

“We were were going to wear the black uniforms regardless of the situation, whether he got charged or not,” redshirt senior Koby McEwen said. “If he got charged, it was in support of it. If justice wasn’t served, it was in protest of.”

Even though UConn started with an early 6-0 lead, Marquette quickly found its offense and went on a run of its own. After a D.J. Carton jumper at the 8:23 mark, MU led 18-10 and was on a 14-2 run. The Golden Eagles’ defense held the Huskies to a shooting percentage 29.4%.

That advantage extended to a 13-0 run when MU had its largest lead of the game at 20-10. With 3:04 remaining in the first half, Justin Lewis made it 26-16 with a one-handed slam.

At the half, Marquette was up 31-23 and was shooting 45.2% from the field, holding UConn to a 10-for-30 performance from the field and a 1-for-6 performance from deep. The Huskies owned the 21-14 rebound advantage, though. The Golden Eagles limited themselves to just four turnovers in the first 20 minutes.