Kam Jones scored 22 points, grabbed nine boards and dished five assists to lead No. 8 Marquette to a 79-71 win over Creighton on Friday in Milwaukee.
Stevie Mitchell added 18 points and three steals for Marquette (13-2, 4-0 Big East). David Joplin also scored 11 points, and he hit a 3-pointer that sealed the win with less than a minute to go.
Creighton (9-6, 2-2) had four double-figure scorers. Ryan Kalkbrenner led the way with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Jamiya Neal added 15 points, Steven Ashworth contributed 13 points and 10 assists, and Jackson McAndrew had 10 points.
Both teams struggled early on offense, with both starting 3-for-10 from the floor, though Creighton established a 7-0 lead.
Jones did not score until there were two minutes left in the half and finished the first half 2-for-9 from the field. Zaide Lowery’s put-back at the buzzer gave the Golden Eagles a 39-35 edge entering halftime.
Marquette took the momentum it found at the end of the half into the second. Across the end of the first and into the second, the Golden Eagles rattled off a 26-6 run. The hosts led 53-38 with 15 minutes to play.
Creighton responded. The Bluejays went on a 12-0 run, capped off by a pair of 3-pointers from Neal on either side of a jumper from Kalkbrenner, to bring their deficit down to three with 11:18 to play.
From there, the margin remained tight. Both teams shot right around 40 percent in the second half.
With one minute to go, Marquette led by five. The Golden Eagles drained off the entire shot clock out of a timeout before Joplin stepped back and hit a 3-pointer with 35 seconds left. A Kalkbrenner layup was offset by two free throws from Jones as the Golden Eagles hung on.
Marquette won its third in a row over Creighton at home and has won four of the past five matchups overall.
–Field Level Media
