David Joplin made six 3-pointers to highlight his career-high 29-point performance, lifting No. 15 Marquette to an 80-69 win over Georgia on Saturday in Nassau, Bahamas.
Chase Ross and Ben Gold chipped in 14 points apiece and Kam Jones added 10 points and seven assists for Marquette (6-0).
Blue Cain led Georgia (5-1) with 17 points on 5-for-10 shooting from 3-point range. Tyrin Lawrence had 15 points and Dakota Leffew added 11 off the bench. Silas Demary Jr. tallied 10 points and seven boards for the Bulldogs, who play No. 22 St. John’s on Sunday.
Holding a one-point lead at halftime, Marquette opened the second half on a 19-5 run. That stretch included a 7-0 spurt that was capped with Ross’ dunk, forcing a Georgia timeout at the 14:09 mark.
From there, Marquette’s lead ballooned to 55-40 with 12:55 remaining before Cain’s 3-pointer stopped the bleeding for Georgia.
After Joplin’s fifth triple extended the Golden Eagles’ advantage to 60-46 with 10:30 left, Leffew knocked down consecutive 3-pointers to jump start an 11-0 Georgia run.
Cain’s triple trimmed Marquette’s lead to 69-66 with 4:58 left, but the Golden Eagles took control with a 9-0 run, holding Georgia scoreless until Lawrence’s layup with 49 seconds left.
Marquette began the game with Joplin’s triple, followed by Ross’ three-point play to give the Golden Eagles an early 6-0 advantage. Georgia then answered with an 11-4 run, stamped with RJ Godfrey’s three-point play at the 13:03 mark of the opening half.
After Cain’s triple put the Bulldogs ahead by two, Gold’s 3-pointer capped a 9-0 Marquette spurt, giving the Golden Eagles a 21-14 lead with 8:28 left.
Trailing by five with 2:31 remaining before halftime, the Bulldogs’ 8-1 run gave Georgia a 35-33 lead before Joplin’s triple in the closing seconds swung the momentum to Marquette.
–Field Level Media
