Coming off its first road win of the season, Marquette returns home to host rival DePaul in Big East Conference play Sunday afternoon in Milwaukee.
The Golden Eagles (10-18, 5-12 Big East) avoided a season with zero victories away from home, including both true road and neutral-site battles, with a 76-60 win at Georgetown on Tuesday.
Nigel James Jr. led the way once again with 20 points and six assists for Marquette, which was without starting forward Royce Parham (back tightness). Adrian Stevens added 16, Chase Ross scored 14 and Ben Gold had 10 points and 12 rebounds.
“We’re a team that relies pretty heavily on Royce’s scoring, we go to Royce quite a bit. I thought NJ and Chase did a great job with the ball, making plays, making decisions,” Marquette coach Shaka Smart said. “Adrian’s aggressiveness got better as the game went on.”
Ross exited the game in the final minutes after what appeared to be a shoulder injury. Ross should be good to go Sunday after he had his shoulder popped back into place after the game, per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
DePaul (15-13, 7-10) has won consecutive games away from home: 69-57 at Seton Hall on Feb. 18 and 72-71 at Creighton on Wednesday.
Brandon Maclin scored 21 points on an efficient 8-of-12 shooting from the floor to lead the way. NJ Benson added 14 points with nine rebounds while CJ Gunn scored 11.
“Both games, our guys found a way late,” DePaul coach Chris Holtmann said. “We very easily could have lost both games, but our guys found a way to win this one and B-Mac (Maclin) played a huge role in that.”
Marquette nearly picked up its first road win in the first meeting between these teams in Chicago on Jan. 16.
The Golden Eagles held a 44-36 advantage at the halftime break. The Blue Demons then almost literally flipped the score, outscoring Marquette 44-31 in the second to win 80-75.
Gunn shined for DePaul with a career-high 31 points on 7-of-13 shooting from beyond the arc. James led Marquette with 18.
–Field Level Media
