No. 25 Marquette tops No. 6 Huskies 82-76 for 5th straight win

MILWAUKEE (AP) — After squandering second-halfleads in each of its four losses this season, Marquette vowed tofinish games more effectively.

So far, so good.

Oso Ighodaro scored 19 points and showed some uncharacteristicfree-throw accuracy down the stretch as No. 25 Marquette defeatedNo. 6 UConn 82-76 on Wednesday for its fifth consecutive victory.The Golden Eagles have erased halftime deficits in each of theirlast three wins.

“We just felt like we didn’t finish games good enough in thoselosses,” Ighodaro said. “Me and TK (point guard Tyler Kolek) talkedabout just trying to lead in those moments and make sure we got theright shots.”

Marquette (14-4, 6-1 Big East) trailed by 11 points late in thefirst half and was down 37-33 at the break. The Golden Eagles werebehind 48-41 midway through a 96-85 victory at St. John’s on Jan. 3and erased a 36-34 halftime deficit in a 95-73 blowout ofGeorgetown on Saturday.

The Golden Eagles have shot 62.5% after halftime in those threegames.

“The fact that our guys are playing better down the stretch ofgames I think is in a lot of ways because they’ve done it now andthey’ve been in some games and we took some lumps in some closegames earlier in the year,” Marquette coach Shaka Smart said.

UConn (15-3, 4-3) has lost three of its last four. All threelosses came on the road against teams currently in the Top 25: No.12 Xavier, No. 19 Providence and Marquette.

“The way the games are played in nonconference and the NCAATournament are much different than the way they’re played in leagueplay,” UConn coach Dan Hurley said. “The games are a lot morephysical. We’re proving to be better suited for maybe those othertypes of games that are played a little bit differently, whichmakes me feel better about March, but it was scary, the amount ofone-on-ones, being driven and scored on, the lack of physicaltoughness at the point of contact in some situations.”

Olivier-Maxence Prosper scored 17 points and Kam Jones added 15- all in the second half - for Marquette.

UConn lost despite getting 20 points, 10 rebounds and fiveblocks from 7-foot-2 freshman Donovan Clingan off the bench. AlexKaraban added 17 points and Adama Sanogo had 10.

After trailing by eight with less than two minutes left, UConngot the margin down to three on two occasions. But Marquetteanswered each time.

Marquette led 76-73 when Ighodaro got fouled with 36.2 secondsleft. He hit both free throws to give the Golden Eagles somebreathing room. Ighodaro sank two more free throws with 11 secondsremaining to cap the scoring.

Ighodaro had been just 16 of 38 on free-throw attempts thisseason before hitting those four.

“I had a couple of tough games this year at the free-throw line,but I trust myself,” Ighodaro said. “I work every day at it. Ithink I’m a good free-throw shooter. My teammates believe inme.”

Smart said he was confident and cited Ighodaro’s track record.Ighodaro made 73.8% of his free throws last season.

“What I saw in his eyes is there was no avoidance,” Smart said.“There was no hesitation. It was, ‘I’m stepping up to the line andyou send me to the line, I’m going to get two points for myteam.’”

BIG PICTURE

UConn: The Huskies scored 16 straight points in the first halfbut couldn’t slow down Marquette’s offense in the second half. TheHuskies lost despite collecting a season-high 11 blocks, includingeight in the first half.

Marquette: The Golden Eagles stayed competitive without gettingmuch in the first half from Jones, who entered the night with ateam-high 16.1 points per game. Once Jones heated up, Marquettetook off. The Golden Eagles went 30 of 59 from the floor and areshooting over 50% as a team.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Marquette should stay in the Top 25 next week now even if itloses at Xavier on Sunday. UConn probably needs to beat St. John’sthis week to stay in the top 10.

UP NEXT

UConn: Hosts St. John’s on Sunday.

Marquette: At Xavier on Sunday.