After appearing in the AP Top 25 rankings for the first time in nearly two years, the No. 22 Marquette men’s basketball team defeated Seton Hall 73-63 Wednesday night in Newark, New Jersey.
Marquette was in full control for most of the game, winning its seventh-straight BIG EAST contest thanks to a career night from redshirt first-year forward Justin Lewis who had a collegiate-best 33 points, nine rebounds, six assists and three steals.
The Golden Eagles came out of the gates with intensity on the defensive side of the ball, forcing Seton Hall to go 2-for-17 from the field to start the game.
Graduate transfer forward Kur Kuath made his impact felt from the start as the big man had three blocks in the first three minutes of the game. Kuath finished the contest with a game-high seven blocks, six points and three rebounds.
The Golden Eagles jumped out to a 26-10 lead with 7:59 left in the first half after putting together a 12-0 run over the span of four minutes.
The Golden Eagles led 38-21 at halftime after 15 first half points from Lewis on 3-for-5 shooting from beyond the arc in the opening half. Lewis is now 13-for-22 from deep over his last three games.
Seton Hall wouldn’t go away in the second half, however. Senior guard Jared Rhoden heated up offensively as the Pirates went on a 12-2 run to cut the Marquette lead to 47-39 with 12:10 left in the game.
Rhoden finished with 14 points on just 5-for-17 shooting from the field and nine rebounds.
The Golden Eagles responded with a 14-1 run after a couple of 3-pointers from first-year guard Kam Jones and an emphatic dunk from Lewis in transition to put Marquette up 61-40 with 9:35 left.
The Pirates would claw back again, going on a 10-0 run themselves this time, cutting the Marquette lead to 65-56 with 4:02 left.
This time it was graduate guard Jamir Harris who caught the hot hand from deep for the Pirates. Harris scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half and went 4-for-8 from the 3-point line.
Despite struggling offensively down the stretch, the Golden Eagles stayed poised and ultimately held off the Pirates comeback.
Redshirt first-year forward Olivier-Maxence Prosper was the only other Golden Eagle in double figures besides Lewis. Prosper finished with 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting and four rebounds.
As a team the Golden Eagles went 10-for-22 (45.5%) from the 3-point line and assisted on 16 of their 27 made field goals.
Marquette’s defense has also been a force throughout the winning streak as the team has allowed just 60.3 points per contest over the last three games.
Marquette (15-6, 7-3 BIG EAST) will finish its two-game road trip Saturday afternoon against No. 17 Providence. Tip-off against the Friars is set for 3:30 p.m. CST as the Golden Eagles will look to make it eight-straight BIG EAST wins.
This article was written by Sam Arco. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @SamArcoMU.
