Marquette 73 Rutgers 65

Darius Johnson-Odom is finally starting to heat up, and the timing couldn't be better for the Marquette Golden Eagles.

Thanks to the junior guard's career-high-tying 29 points, MU won its second consecutive Big East game Wednesday night, outlasting Rutgers, 73-65, on Wednesday night at the Louis Brown Athletic Center.

Johnson-Odom knocked down 9 of 14 shots overall and 5 of 8 from three-point range, and his 12 points in just over a 5-minute span in the second half helped the Golden Eagles (11-4, 2-0) withstand a Rutgers charge that had pulled the Scarlet Knights (9-5, 0-2) to within four with 12 minutes 54 seconds remaining.

Johnson-Odom also did a bang-up job on the other end of the court, helping hold Rutgers' point guard Mike Coburn to one point in 30 minutes.

“He's an explosive scorer and he's become a much better defender,” coach Buzz Williams said. “Darius has done an outstanding job of running in transition, and he's getting four or six points a game off of it. It helps our team, because it puts pressure on the defense.”

MU wound up needing everything Johnson-Odom could give it in his 36 minutes as it entered the game with more injury woes. Senior Dwight Buycks, who'd already missed time earlier in the season to two separate ankle sprains, injured his thigh in a collision with 282-pound freshman Davante Gardner in practice on Tuesday.

Buycks started at point guard but played just five first-half minutes and 11 overall, going scoreless, as Williams managed his minutes as best he could. Playing 29 minutes in Buycks' stead was sophomore Junior Cadougan, who responded with a career-high eight assists against just one turnover.

Without Buycks' scoring, however, more of the pressure fell on Johnson-Odom, Jimmy Butler (16 points) and Jae Crowder (15 points) offensively, and each had his moments.

Crowder, coming off a career-high 29 points against West Virginia, knocked down three straight three-pointers early in the first half for the Golden Eagles, who opened a 27-20 lead. Johnson-Odom then scored 10 consecutive points on a breakaway dunk, a layup and a pair of threes to help MU to a 37-30 halftime advantage.

“When you have those lapses, it cost us,” said Rutgers coach Mike Rice. “It cost us against players like Johnson-Odom and Crowder. Talented individuals.”

Turnovers and suspect shot selection by MU helped Rutgers get to within 44-40 and then 46-42 at the 12:54 mark before Johnson-Odom went on another scoring binge. He poured in 10 points in a run that saw the Golden Eagles score on eight consecutive possessions, with Vander Blue's three-point play giving them a 67-58 lead with 5:03 left.

“I think my teammates did a great job of getting me great shots,” said Johnson-Odom. “We ran the offense a couple times and they found me a couple good shots. I can only thank my teammates for that.”

Blue's basket would be MU's last field goal, and the Golden Eagles made just 6 of 12 free throws the rest of the way. However, it didn't matter because Rutgers managed just three field goals and seven points the rest of the way itself.

MU shot 51.2% - the fourth consecutive time it has hit half its shots or better - and 56.3% from three-point range (9 for 16). Rutgers hit 9 of 18 threes but couldn't overcome a huge deficit at the free-throw line as the Golden Eagles went 20 for 32 compared to 4 for 11 for the Scarlet Knights.

MU will leave Thursday for Pittsburgh, where it will begin preparations for its Saturday morning showdown with the No. 5 Panthers at the Petersen Events Center.

“They all look like the Celtics to me,” Williams said. “I think that's just life in our league.”