Marquette uses big 2nd half to drop Purdue at home 65-55

MILWAUKEE — Koby McEwen scored a game-high 23 points and the Marquette Golden Eagles used a big second half to rally to a 65-55 win over the Purdue Boilermakers on Wednesday as part of the annual Gavitt Games between the Big Ten and Big East.

Markus Howard added 18 points for Marquette (2-0), which outscored Purdue 40-17 in the second half to capture its first-ever victory against the Boilermakers. The Golden Eagles were 0-9 all-time against Purdue entering the night.

Matt Hearms had 14 points to lead the Boilermakers (1-2) who dropped their second straight game after a season-opening victory against Green Bay.

The Boilermakers scored the game’s first nine points and led by as many as 18. But after trailing 38-25 at halftime, Marquette opened the second half on a 29-14 run and took a 54-52 lead, its first of the night, on a layup by Sacar Anim with 4:43 to go.

Howard was presented a special game ball by coach Steve Wojciechowski before tipoff for becoming the program’s all-time leading scorer. The senior guard eclipsed the 2,000-point mark on Wednesday. Howard now has 2,011 points for his career.