Marquette’s Howard (45) hands Buffalo first defeat
Markus Howard scored 40 of his 45 points in the second half as No. 20 Marquette pulled away to hand No. 14 Buffalo its first loss of the season, 103-85 on Friday night in Milwaukee.
Sam Hauser added 18 points for the Golden Eagles (10-2), who hit seven threepointers during a secondhalf surge that turned a 5249 deficit into an 85-68 lead.
Howard, just one of seven in the first half, finished 12 of 25 from the field. He was nine of 13 from beyond the arc and 12 of 12 of from the line as Marquette improved to 9-0 at home.
Jeremy Harris had 22 points, Dontay Caruthers scored 20 and CJ Massinburg added 18 for the Bulls (11-1), who were off to their best start since 1930-31.
Marquette, which trailed by as many as nine in the first half, used a 16-3 run to open a 65-55 lead with 12:16 left. Hauser and Howard capped the run with backto-back threes.
The Bulls pulled within 67-65, but the Golden Eagles ran the lead to 79-65 when Howard converted a fourpoint play.
at Louisiana State 75, No. 24 Furman 57: Tremont Waters had 20 points and seven assists as the Tigers ended the Paladins’ perfect start to the season.
Waters, who came off the bench for the second straight game, scored eight points over the final six minutes as LSU closed with a 14-4 run.
Skylar Mays scored 16 points on seven-for-10 shooting and Kavell BigbyWilliams had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Tigers (9-3).
Andrew Brown scored 15 points to lead the Paladins (12-1), whose season-opening run included road wins over defending national champion Villanova and Loyola-Chicago, which made the Final Four last season.
at No. 8 Gonzaga 101, Denver 40: Brandon Clarke and Rui Hachimura each scored 23 points as the Bulldogs (11-2) improved to 13-0 all time against current Summit League members.
at No. 10 Michigan State 99, Oakland 69: Cassius Winston scored a season-high 26 points in the Spartans’ fifth straight win.