MUScoop Wiki
Starting Points
NCAA Division I Sports
Discontinued Sports
Club Sports
Athletic Department
Nicknames
Traditions
Official Links
MUScoop Wiki
Starting Points
NCAA Division I Sports
Discontinued Sports
Club Sports
Athletic Department
Nicknames
Traditions
Official Links
This is an old revision of the document!
Sparked by freshmen Davante Gardner and Vander Blue, the Marquette Golden Eagles scored 24 unanswered points down the stretch to thwart an upset bid by Bucknell and beat the Bison, 72-61, on Sunday afternoon at the Bradley Center.
The 290-pound Gardner had eight points and Blue five as MU (2-0) rallied from a 57-45 deficit with 10 minutes 22 seconds remaining. The Golden Eagles held the Bison (0-2) to just one field goal while hitting 8 of 13 of its own shots over that span.
Senior guard Dwight Buycks came off the bench to score a team-high 17 points, while Gardner and Jimmy Butler added 11 points and Jae Crowder 10 points and 10 rebounds as MU shot 54.2% in the second half while holding Bucknell to 27.6%.
The Golden Eagles also went 23 for 34 from the free-throw line, compared to the Bison's 6 for 11 performance.
Crowder got MU's 24-0 run started with a layup, and Blue kept it going with a layup and three-pointer. Gardner's layup off his own miss with 5:55 left gave the Golden Eagles their first lead since the game's opening four minutes, and they remained in control the rest of the way.
MU trailed, 26-16, when it put together a 12-2 run beginning at the 9:54 mark to tie it up at 28-all. The Golden Eagles forced seven turnovers in that span, including four straight possessions, to get back into it.
The game was tied, 30-30, with 3:26 left, but 3 threes from Johnson the rest of the way helped the Bison close out the half on an 11-3 run and head into intermission with a 41-33 lead.
Bucknell shot 68.2% overall, with Johnson hitting 5 of 6 threes and the Bison 7 of 10 overall. Johnson led all scorers with 15 points.
MU, which shot just 37.5%, could have trailed by even more had it not forced 12 turnovers or enjoyed a huge margin at the free-throw line (13-19 to 4-4).