Marquette defeats Butler for 5th straight win
While Marquette has surged into Big East title contention due to the efficiency of its offense, the 14th-ranked Golden Eagles showed Saturday they also can win with defense.
Tyler Kolek had 13 points and eight assists as Marquette overcame a sluggish performance and defeated Butler 60-52 in Milwaukee on Saturday for its fifth consecutive victory.
“Obviously not one of our better offensive games, but the defensive effort was terrific,” Marquette coach Shaka Smart said.
Marquette (19-5, 11-2 Big East) began the day tied for first place in the conference standings with No. 16 Xavier, which hosts St. John’s on Saturday afternoon.
The Golden Eagles have won 10 of their last 11 games, and their only loss in that stretch was an 80-76 decision at Xavieron Jan. 15. The two teams meet again Feb. 15 at Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum.
Marquette entered Saturday leading all Division I teams in adjusted offensive efficiency, a metric measured by college basketball stats guru Ken Pomeroy that essentially translates to points scored per 100 possessions when adjusted for the level of competition. But the Golden Eagles weren’t nearly as effective as usual on that end of the floor Saturday.
Although they couldn’t pull away from a Butler team that had lost each of its last four games by at least 21 points, the Golden Eagles got enough stops down the stretch to win.
Butler (11-13, 3-10) had the ball while trailing by six a handful of times in the last three minutes, but Marquette didn’t allow the Bulldogs to score on any of those possessions.
State
Chicago State 62, Hartford 49: At West Hartford, Wesley Cardet Jr.’s 13 points helped Chicago State defeat Hartford. Cardet also contributed three steals for the Cougars (8-17). Bryce Johnson added 12 points and six rebounds. Jahsean Corbett scored 11 points, while adding 11 rebounds.
The Hawks (5-18) were led in scoring by Briggs McClain, who finished with 13 points. Hartford also got 12 points and two steals from Pano Pavlidis. Kurtis Henderson had 10 points and two steals.
Sacred Heart 78, Central Connecticut State 65: At Fairfield, Nico Galette scored 22 points as Sacred Heart won the Northeast Conference game. Galette shot 9 of 12 from the field and 3 for 4 from the line for the Pioneers (13-13, 6-5). Tanner Thomas went 6 of 6 from the field to add 15 points. Bryce Johnson shot 6 of 8 from the field to finish with 13 points.
The Blue Devils (6-19, 4-7) were led by Andre Snoddy, who recorded 20 points and six rebounds. Cent. Conn. St. also got 10 points and two blocks from Abdul Momoh. In addition, Kellen Amos had nine points.