David Joplin had a career-high 28 points off the bench, while Tyler Kolek added 24 in nearly missing a triple-double, and the two combined to make 12 of No. 16 Marquette’s season-high 15 3-pointers, en route to an 89-69 victory over host DePaul in Big East play on Saturday in Chicago.
Joplin went a career-best 8 of 11 from beyond the arc, while Kolek was 4 of 6 from distance, and posted 10 assists and nine rebounds as the Golden Eagles (17-5, 9-2 in Big East) nearly hit half of their 36 3 attempts and shot 54 percent overall.
Olivier-Maxence Prosper scored 13 and Oso Ighodaro added 10 points for Marquette, a surprise contender for the Big East title that’s won three straight and 11 of 13.
Umoja Gibson made five 3s and finished with 25 points for DePaul (9-13, 3-8), which shot 44.6 percent, but committed 12 turnovers in losing its third in a row.
Marquette led just 33-32 at halftime, and DePaul kept it mostly a one-point deficit through the first few minutes of the second half. Then Joplin fueled an 11-0 run for the Golden Eagles.
Ahead 39-38, Ighodaro scored, then Joplin hit three consecutive 3-pointers to put Marquette up 50-38. A four-point play from Prosper gave the Golden Eagles a 13-point cushion with 11:40 remaining in regulation to essentially keep control of the contest.
Both teams started out shooting well, and Marquette made its first eight two-point attempts, and finished 14 of 28 overall from the field in the first half. However, the Golden Eagles only held that slim one-point edge at the break.
They held a 24-16 advantage until DePaul used a 13-2 run to take a 29-26 lead — after Graham’s 3 tied it and Da’Sean Nelson’s bucket put the host ahead for the first time. Marquette, though, answered with back-to-back 3s from Kolek and Joplin to take the lead before Gibson tied the game with another 3.
Kolek’s free throw that followed was the difference entering halftime.
Marquette leading scorer Kam Jones had seven points, but sat most of the second half after suffering an apparent injury.
–Field Level Media
