No. 8 Marquette mauls No. 12 Texas in Big East-Big 12 Battle
Dec 6, 2023; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Marquette Golden Eagles forward Oso Ighodaro (13) looks to pass the ball under pressure from Texas Longhorns forward Brock Cunningham (30) during the first half at Fiserv Forum. credits: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports Tyler Kolek scored a season-high 28 points and Kam Jones added 17 as No. 8 Marquette bounced back from an in-state-rivalry loss to rout No. 12 Texas 86-65 in a Big East-Big 12 Battle game on Wednesday in Milwaukee.
Marquette (7-2) was coming off 75-64 loss at Wisconsin on Saturday. Texas (6-2) had won two straight after an 81-71 defeat against No. 5 UConn.
The Golden Eagles gained control with a 13-point run to close the first half for a 42-28 lead. Marquette pushed the edge to 62-36 on Kolek's layup with 11:56 remaining.
Marquette, which shot 7 of 29 from beyond the arc in the loss to Wisconsin, hit a season-high 14 3-pointers on 30 attempts against the Longhorns. Jones was 5 of 8 and Kolek 4 of 9 from long range.
Kolek made 11 of 16 field-goal attempts, dished out six assists and had eight rebounds to pace the Golden Eagles to a 37-30 advantage on the boards.
Max Abmas had 25 points on 10-of-19 shooting for Texas, and Chendall Weaver added 10 points. The Longhorns were 4 of 16 from 3-point range.
Jones sandwiched a pair of 3-pointers around one by David Joplin for a nine-point run that put Marquette up 29-20 with 5:49 left in the first half.
Texas answered with eight consecutive points to pull within one, but Kolek hit three 3-pointers to fuel the 13-point run to close the half.
The Golden Eagles hit of 8 of 21 from deep in the first half, including four by Kolek. Marquette also had a 6-0 edge in free-throw attempts, sinking all of them, prior to the break. In the second half, Texas was 11 of 14 at the line while the Golden Eagles were 6 of 9.
Marquette coach Shaka Smart was facing his former team for the first time. Smart compiled a 109-86 record at Texas in six seasons (2015-21), leading the Longhorns to three NCAA Tournament appearances.
—Field Level Media
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