A cold shooting first half from the Marquette men’s basketball team gives the Golden Eagles their first home loss of the season as they fall 67-56 to No. 4 UCLA Saturday night.
After starting the game 1-for-16 from beyond the arc, the Golden Eagles trailed by as many as 23 points in the first half and couldn’t recover from the early double-digit deficit against the Bruin’s side that reached last season’s Final Four.
Here’s a breakdown of Marquette’s loss:
Game MVP: Jaime Jaquez Jr.
The first-team preseason All-PAC-12 selection posted a season-high 24 points on 7-for-16 shooting from the field. The junior guard also had a game-high 11 rebounds for the Bruins.
“Last year he was one of my favorite players in the country, just watching him from afar,”Marquette head coach Shaka Smart said. “I knew it was going to be challenging to defend him because he really just takes what you give him and he’s so strong and tough, he was a big difference maker.”
Notes:
- Redshirt junior guard Greg Elliott scored a career-high 22 points on 6-for-9 shooting from beyond the arc off the bench for the Golden Eagles.
- Marquette shot 4-for-19 from the 3-point line in the first half and finished the night just 8-for-33 from 3-point land.
- The Golden Eagles continued to find scoring from their bench, outscoring the Bruins 28-7 in that department.
- Redshirt-first year Tyler Kolek is 0-for-11 from the 3-point line in his last two games.
- UCLA outscored Marquette 19-8 in points off turnovers and 19-7 in second chance points.
- Redshirt first-year forward Justin Lewis posted 12 points and nine rebounds on the night. Lewis has scored in double digits in 10 of Marquette’s 11 games this year.
- Marquette is now 5-1 at home this season.
Quote of the Day:
Although down 31-10 early, Elliott reiterated the Golden Eagles’ fight throughout the game to never quit.
“We just kept fighting, stuck together and fought,” Elliott said.”That’s something we have to remain doing, especially in conference play, there’s never going to be a perfect game ever in the BIG EAST. As long as we continue to fight, no matter where we play at, we’ll be good.”
Up Next:
The Golden Eagles (8-3) will now begin BIG EAST Conference play Dec. 18 at Xavier after finishing the non-conference slate 8-3. Next Saturday’s game against the 9-1 Musketeers is set for 3:00 p.m. CST
This article was written by Sam Arco. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @SamArcoMU.
