Marquette opens new home, beats Retrievers

MILWAUKEE — Sam Hauser and Markus Howard each scored 15 points, and Marquette held NCAA Tournament darling UMBC to 22 percent shooting in 67-42 win on Tuesday night in the Golden Eagles’ first game in their new downtown home.

Theo John had 11 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks for Marquette, which weathered a poor-shooting night from Howard. The sharpshooting guard was just 2 of 12 from the 3-point line and 5 of 16 overall.

Howard added eight rebounds and seven assists.

Marquette held UMBC to just 14 of 62 from the field to spoil the Retrievers’ first game since last season’s NCAAs. TheRetrievers became the first No. 16 seed to beat a top seed in the men’s tourney.

Arkel Lamar had 11 points to lead UMBC, which trailed by as much as 21 in the second half. The Retrievers shot just 5 of 27 (18 percent) after halftime.

The Golden Eagles had a successful debut at the Fiserv Forum, the new arena for the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks.

The Retrievers are no longer seen as a pushover on any schedule after their historic upset over Virginia. Figure that no deficit is out of reach after last season’s NCAA Tournament. They narrowed an early 14point lead to 25-20 late in the first half before the Howard-fueled run put Marquette up by 13 at halftime. They had trouble keeping up with Howard’s quickness and the inside play of 6-foot-9 forward Theo John, especially in the first half.

Marquette’s deep roster allows fifth-year coach Steve Wojciechowski, a Severna Park native who attended Cardinal Gibbons in Baltimore, to mix and match on the court. The Golden Eagles are especially deeper in the frontcourt, where they’ve added 6-foot-8 Joey Hauser (six points, seven rebounds) and 6-foot-9 Brendan Bailey (five points, one rebound). They could be in good shape especially if John can continue to play like he did on Tuesday night, when he had seven points and six rebounds in the first half.