Sean Jones sank the go-ahead 3-pointer with 36 seconds to play as No. 4 Marquette pulled out a 71-69 win over UCLA on Monday in the first round of the Maui Invitational in Honolulu.
The Bruins (3-1) led by 12 points early in the second half, but the Golden Eagles (4-0) went on a 24-5 tear to go up by seven with 9:20 remaining.
Down 68-64 with two minutes left, UCLA got three free throws from Sebastian Mack, a steal by Lazar Stefanovic and a layup from Adem Bona to move on top 69-68 with 53 seconds left.
Jones followed with his clutch trey, after which Stefanovic and Mack missed shots for UCLA.
Marquette advances to face No. 1 Kansas in the semifinals on Tuesday. The other semifinal will feature No. 2 Purdue and No. 7 Tennessee. UCLA will oppose Chaminade in the consolation bracket.
David Joplin led Marquette with 19 points, hitting five 3-pointers. Oso Ighodaro added 14 points for the Golden Eagles, and Kam Jones scored 12.
Before his winning hoop, Sean Jones had two points on 1-of-5 shooting, and he had missed all three of his 3-point attempts.
Mack finished with a game-high 25 points. Bona put up 13 points, and Stefanovic contributed 11 points and nine rebounds.
Marquette got off to a slow start, managing just one hoop in the first four minutes. The Golden Eagles trailed 23-15 with seven minutes to play in the first half.
The Bruins went into halftime leading 35-30. UCLA hit 46.2 percent of its field-goal attempts before the break, including 3 of 7 long-distance shots. Marquette shot 38.7 percent from the field in the opening half, 5-for-18 from beyond the arc.
Joplin, who put up eight of Marquette’s first 10 points, led all scorers with 10 at halftime. Stefanovic and Mack each had nine in the first half for UCLA.
Overall, the Bruins outshot the Golden Eagles 46.9 percent to 45.5 percent from the floor, but Marquette hit 11 of 34 (32.4 percent) from long range while UCLA was 5 of 13 (38.5 percent). UCLA had a 31-26 rebounding edge but hurt itself by committing 14 turnovers to Marquette’s seven.
–Field Level Media
