Kam Jones poured in 28 points on 10-of-18 shooting and No. 15 Marquette overcame a late-game collapse to record a 78-74 win over Maryland on Friday night in College Park, Md.
With the Golden Eagles (4-0) trailing 59-56 with 8:46 remaining, Jones took over, scoring 12 straight Marquette points to provide the visitors with a 68-61 lead.
Selton Miguel made two free throws to get the Terrapins (3-1) within three, 68-65, before Stevie Mitchell cashed in on a jumper, a second-chance layup and two free throws in 55 seconds for Marquette. That gave the Golden Eagles a 76-69 lead with 45 seconds left.
But Maryland’s Ja’Kobi Gillespie knocked down a 3-pointer and DeShawn Harris-Smith added a layup to cut the Terrapins’ deficit to 76-74 with 36 seconds left.
Jones soon had a chance to seal the win, but he missed two free throws with 20 seconds left. Harris-Smith did the same thing on the other end to prevent Maryland from drawing even.
Mitchell, who finished with 18 points, then officially put the finishing touches on the win with two foul shots with six seconds to play.
The Golden Eagles managed to hang on despite getting outshot 52.7 percent to 44.8 percent from the field.
Gillespie and Derik Queen each racked up 24 points for the Terrapins, with Queen also snatching seven rebounds. Julian Reese grabbed 10 boards but was held to two points on 1-of-3 shooting in 25 minutes.
Jones went on a personal 8-0 run in the game’s opening minutes to lift Marquette to a 10-6 lead with 15:50 left in the first half.
The Golden Eagles led by three with 5:16 to go in the half, which Maryland closed with a bang. Harris-Smith, Gillespie and Queen accounted for all of the Terrapins’ scoring during a 14-7 run that sent Maryland into the break up 34-30.
Queen opened the second-half scoring with a dunk and Mitchell answered with a layup. Neither team led by more than four until Jones’ late-game outburst.
–Field Level Media
