No. 16 Marquette seize command late to cruise past DePaul

David Joplin had a career-high 28 points off the bench, while Tyler Kolek added 24 in nearly missing a triple-double, and the two combined to make 12 of No. 16 Marquette's season-high 15 3-pointers, en route to an 89-69 victory over host DePaul in Big East play on Saturday in Chicago.

Joplin went a career-best 8 of 11 from beyond the arc, while Kolek was 4 of 6 from distance, and posted 10 assists and nine rebounds as the Golden Eagles (17-5, 9-2 in Big East) nearly hit half of their 36 3 attempts and shot 54 percent overall.

Olivier-Maxence Prosper scored 13 and Oso Ighodaro added 10 points for Marquette, a surprise contender for the Big East title that's won three straight and 11 of 13.

Umoja Gibson made five 3s and finished with 25 points for DePaul (9-13, 3-8 in Big East), which shot 44.6 percent, but committed 12 turnovers in losing its third in a row.

Marquette led just 33-32 at halftime, and DePaul kept it mostly a one-point deficit through the first few minutes of the second half. Then Joplin fueled an 11-0 run for the Golden Eagles.

Ahead 39-38, Ighodaro scored, then Joplin hit three consecutive 3-pointers to put Marquette up 50-38. A four-point play from Prosper gave the Golden Eagles a 13-point cushion with 11:40 remaining in regulation to essentially keep control of the contest.

Both teams started out shooting well, and Marquette made its first eight two-point attempts, and finished 14 of 28 overall from the field in the first half. However, the Golden Eagles only held that slim one-point edge at the break.

They held a 25-16 advantage until DePaul used a 13-2 run to take a 29-26 lead -- after Graham's 3 tied it and Da'Sean Nelson's bucket put the host ahead for the first time. Marquette, though, answered with back-to-back 3s from Kolek and Joplin to take the lead before Gibson tied the game with another 3.

Kolek's free throw that followed was the difference entering halftime.