Field Level Media
Nov 27, 2021
Marquette shot better than 50 percent from the floor all game long, dominated the boards and overwhelmed visiting Northern Illinois with their depth in an 80-66 win Saturday night in Milwaukee.
Justin Lewis scored 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting to lead the Golden Eagles (6-1), who bounced back from their only loss, a rout at the hands of No. 16 St. Bonaventure.
Stevie Mitchell, who entered averaging 4.2 points in 15 minutes per game, finished with 11 points for Marquette, and Tyler Kolek and Darryl Morsell netted 10 points each.
Keshawn Williams scored 17 points, 10 in the second half, to lead Northern Illinois (1-5), which has not won since defeating Washington to open the season.
Zool Kueth netted 14 points, while Kaleb Thornton added 12 points and seven assists. Adong Makuoi chipped in 10 points.
A jumper at the first-half buzzer by Kur Kuath restored Marquette's lead to double digits at 39-28, and the margin never dipped below 10 again.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Kolek and David Joplin pushed the Golden Eagles' lead to 56-39 with 12:20 left in the game.
A 7-0 run shortly afterward widened the advantage to 20 points at 63-43 and the rout was on.
Marquette complemented its 51.9 percent shooting by outrebounding Northern Illinois 39-27 and getting 35 points off the bench. The Huskies shot 44.1 percent from the floor but got only five bench points.
Marquette shot 6 of 20 on 3-pointers, while Northern Illinois was 5 of 19.
Lewis, Mitchell and Kuath were a combined 13 of 14 from the floor as Marquette dominated the paint for a 39-28 lead at halftime.
Despite 10 turnovers, the Golden Eagles shot 56.7 percent from the floor and forced the Huskies into nine turnovers. Northern Illinois was beaten 20-9 on the boards and survived by shooting 45.8 percent from the floor before the break.
Marquette scored 12 straight points to pull away from a one-point game and take 33-20 lead with 2:44 left before halftime. Lewis scored four points in the run and led all scorers with 11 at the break.
Mitchell scored nine and Kuath added eight, while Williams led Northern Illinois with eight points.
--Field Level Media