Marquette loses tight contest to No. 15 Creighton at home
MILWAUKEE (AP) - Christian Bishop scored 14 points and No. 15 Creighton withstood a late comeback attempt to hold off Marquette 71-68 on Saturday.
Marquette (9-10, 5-8 Big East) trailed by 12 in the second half but rallied as D.J. Carton sank two 3-pointers in the final minute. Carton’s final 3 cut Creighton’s lead to 70-68 with 35.9 seconds remaining.
Bluejays guard Marcus Zegarowski made one free throw but missed his second with 23.7 seconds left, giving Marquette one last chance.
Carton couldn’t get open for a tying 3 as Shereef Mitchell guarded him closely. Koby McEwen missed a contested 3-point attempt in the closing seconds for the Golden Eagles.
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Creighton (14-5, 10-4) bounced back after getting upset 86-79 at home by Georgetown on Wednesday night. The Bluejays also earned a measure of revenge against Marquette, which won 89-84 at Creighton on Dec. 14.
The Bluejays beat Marquette this time because they had much more success on the glass. Creighton outrebounded Marquette 38-26 and outscored the Golden Eagles 19-4 in second-chance points. In the first meeting between the teams, Marquette outrebounded Creighton 42-27.
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Bishop and Damien Jefferson led the rebounding effort with eight boards apiece. Jefferson and Zegarowski each scored 13 points for Creighton, and Jefferson also had six assists.
Carton scored 16 points, Jamal Cain had 14 and Theo John added 10 for Marquette.
BIG PICTURE
Creighton: Bishop hurt his left leg immediately after the opening tip and limped into the locker room, but returned less than five minutes into the game and helped the Bluejays dominate the boards. Creighton closed the first half on a 13-2 run to take the lead for good.
Marquette: Justin Lewis returned to action after missing two games with a leg injury, but went scoreless in eight minutes. Lewis entered averaging 8.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 22.3 minutes per game. The Golden Eagles were missing reserve forward Oso Ighodaro due to a foot injury. They got an unexpected contribution from Jose Perez, a Gardner-Webb transfer who hadn’t played in a game since Nov. 27. Perez entered in the first half and had four points in 12 minutes.
Creighton still might drop a few spots in the AP Top 25 on Monday because of its loss to Georgetown, but this victory could keep the Bluejays somewhere in the top 20.
UP NEXT
Creighton plays at Georgetown on Wednesday.
Marquette visits No. 3 Villanova on Wednesday in the first of five consecutive scheduled road games.