Marquette
His 16 points help spark victory
Theo John made sure Marquette remained undefeated at Fiserv Forum.
In a game that lacked energy for long stretches, the sophomore big man provided a spark with a collegiate-high 16 points as the Golden Eagles handled DePaul, 79-69, Wednesday night at Fiserv Forum.
The 6-foot-9, 240-pound John added 10 rebounds and six blocks.
MU (17-3, 6-1 Big East) improved to 14-0 at its new home. The Golden Eagles are ranked No. 11 in the USA Today coaches poll and 12th by the Associated Press.
Paul Reed led DePaul (11-7, 3-4) with 18 points.
The Golden Eagles shook off a cold start.
They were down, 16-12, after a 5for-15 shooting start with five turnovers.
That left a listless feeling in the building. But the game got a jolt of energy when DePaul forward Jaylen Butz was assessed a technical foul after he was charged with an offensive foul and then he aggressively handed the ball to a referee.
As Howard lined up to shoot the technical free throws, the Blue Demons' bench was then given a technical foul for arguing with the referees.
Howard hit all four free throws to tie the game at 16-16.
DePaul recovered to take a 21-18 lead on a three-point play from Eli Cain.
Sam Hauser, who missed his first four shots, then hit a three-
pointer and a jumper in the lane to give MU the lead for good, though there were many anxious moments.
Hauser was coming off a hot stretch in which he was named the Big East player of the week. He scored a combined 56 points in victories over Georgetown and Providence.
A few minutes later, the Golden Eagles began a 10-0 run that gave them a 38-24 lead with 40 seconds left in the first half. John had five points in that stretch.
DePaul broke the streak when Lyrik Shreiner nailed a three-pointer with 30 seconds left before halftime.
Howard missed a runner in the lane with the clock ticking down, but he was able to sink a putback off the backboard before the clock expired to give MU a 4027 lead at the break.
Howard and Hauser each had 10 points in the opening 20 minutes.
Max Strus, the Blue Demons' leading scorer at 18.3 points per game, opened the game's scoring with a three-pointer but then missed his next seven shots before halftime.
DePaul went on a 8-0 run to start the half, including five points from Reed, before MU head coach Steve Wojciechowski called a timeout.
John finally shook MU from its early second-half doldrums by swatting a shot from Reed off the backboard.
On the other end, John put back in a Howard miss while getting fouled. He hit the free throw to give the Golden Eagles a 43-35 lead.
DePaul hung around.
John gave MU a 56-48 lead with 8:38 remaining after throwing down back-toback dunks.
But the Blue Demons had immediate answers with layups from Strus and Reed, prompting Wojciechowski to call another timeout.
MU finally got some breathing room when Howard made all of his free throws after getting fouled on a three-point attempt and then John ran the floor on a fast break to sink an acrobatic layup for a 63-54 lead.
A layup by Hauser and clutch free throws from Howard down the stretch helped keep DePaul at bay.
Howard finished with a game-high 23 points. He was just 4 for 10 from the field, but he made all 15 of his free throws. He added nine assists but committed eight turnovers.