NCAA Tournament: Marquette routs Vermont, advances to 2nd round
Kam Jones drives to the basket against the Vermont Catamounts on March 17. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Kam Jones scored 18 of his 19 points in the second half as second-seeded Marquette beat No. 15 Vermont 78-61 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday.
Oso Ighodaro scored 14 points and David Joplin added 12 as Marquette (29-6) pulled away in the last 10 minutes and cruised to the rout, advancing to face seventh-seeded Michigan State on Sunday for a spot in the Sweet 16.
Michigan State beat No. 10 Southern California on Friday.
Jones' second-half surge included scoring 17 straight for Marquette, including a trio of 3-point shots. By the time he was finished, the Golden Eagles increased their lead from five points to 17 with just under 10 minutes left.
Dylan Penn, Matt Veretto and Robin Duncan each had 11 points for Vermont (23-11), whose 15-game win streak was snapped by the Golden Eagles.
Marquette led 39-30 at the half, despite Big East Player of the Year Tyler Kolek hitting only 3 of his 10 shots from the floor.
Kolek wasn't a big factor in the game, getting his fourth foul early in the second. He finished with eight points after scoring in double figures for the previous 13 games.
Marquette extended its winning streak to 10 games.