Field Level Media
Feb 22, 2018
Marquette kept its slim NCAA Tournament hopes alive Wednesday night with a 85-73 victory over St. John's at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.
Sophomore guard Markus Howard, the Big East's leading scorer with 21.3 points per game, sat out due to a bruised right hip, but the Golden Eagles didn't miss much of a beat offensively as Sam Hauser sank five 3-pointers and finished with 24 points.
Andrew Rowsey connected on four from distance and added 19 points while Sacar Anim, Jamal Cain and Greg Elliott each finished with 11 for the Golden Eagles (16-11, 7-8 Big East), who shot 50.8 percent and won for the third time in their last four games after losing five of six during a stretch that threatened their postseason hopes.
Shamorie Ponds and Bryan Trimble Jr. led St. John's with 19 points apiece. The Red Storm (14-14, 3-12) shot 44.1 percent and went 11-for-26 from distance, but gave up 16 points off 12 turnovers while their four-game winning streak came to an end.
Ponds scored 44 when the two teams met 11 days ago at Madison Square Garden but was held to five points in the first half Wednesday on 2-of-8 shooting and a 1-for-4 mark from beyond the arc.
He wasn't the only one struggling to put the ball in the hoop, as Marvin Clark II went 3-for-10 from the field and was 1-of-4 from distance.
Had those two found their stroke, the Red Storm might have gone into halftime with a lead, but instead Marquette, which made 5-of-11 3-point attempts, held a 38-34 advantage at the break.
Ponds made only 3 of 10 shots in the second half, but all of them were 3-pointers. He scored 14 in the second half, but Hauser and Rowsey combined for 26, including six 3-pointers, to help the Golden Eagles pull away.
Marquette led by as many as 20 in the second half.
--Field Level Media