Marquette cruises past Texas in Big East-Big 12 Battle
Tyler Kolek #11 of the Marquette Golden Eagles dribbles the ball against Kadin Shedrick #5 of the Texas Longhorns in the first half at Fiserv Forum on December 06, 2023 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
MILWAUKEE - Tyler Kolek had 28 points, eight rebounds and six assists as No. 8 Marquette drubbed No. 12 Texas 86-65 on Wednesday night in a Big East-Big 12 Battle matchup.
Kam Jones added 17 points for Marquette (7-2), which rebounded from a 75-64 loss Saturday at in-state rival Wisconsin and gave coach Shaka Smart an emphatic win against his former team. Smart faced the Longhorns for the first time since spending six seasons at Texas, where he went 109-86 from 2015-21 but did not win an NCAA Tournament game.
Max Abmas led Texas (6-2) with 25 points.
After closing out the first half with a flurry, Marquette left no doubt in the second, building a 32-point lead.
Kolek opened the game with a 3-pointer, but Abmas responded with three consecutive makes from deep in a little over a minute to put the Longhorns in front.
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After Kolek’s opening shot, Marquette missed its next eight 3-point attempts. But an 11-0 run, which included three consecutive 3s, pushed Marquette to a 29-20 lead with just under six minutes left in the first half, and the Golden Eagles didn't look back.
Kolek connected on consecutive 3s to close the half, including one from the Fiserv Forum logo just before the horn, to give Marquette a 42-28 lead at the break.
BIG PICTURE
Texas: The marquee nonconference road game provided Texas with its last Top 25 test before it hosts Big 12 rival Texas Tech on Jan. 6. Before that, the Longhorns have home games against Houston Christian, LSU, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, UNC Greensboro and UT Arlington.
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Marquette: The Golden Eagles climbed to No. 3 in the AP poll after a strong showing in the Maui Invitational but slipped to No. 8 this week following the loss to Wisconsin. Marquette has another chance this week to impress voters and climb back up the rankings with a matchup against old rival Notre Dame.
UP NEXT
Texas: Will host Houston Christian on Saturday.
Marquette: Will host Notre Dame on Saturday in their 119th series matchup.