Marquette Beats Delaware State, 66-60

Box Score

Milwaukee ? After keeping its opponent to shooting just 42.3% from the field, Marquette (7-0) topped Delaware State (1-5) 66-60 tonight at the Bradley Center.

The Golden Eagles enjoyed a double digit cushion for most of the game, but three turnovers and two Marquette fouls in the last minute allowed the Hornets to get six easy points and tighten the score in the last seconds.

The Golden Eagles dominated the Hornets under the basket, out-rebounding them 37 to 15, but were unable to contain forward Jahsha Bluntt who put up half of Delaware State?s 24 first half points and finished the game with 17.

After starting the game with a red-hot shooting percentage of 73.7, Marquette then fell cold in the second half and after struggling to hold onto the ball, shot only 40.9% from the field while committing a total of 18 turnovers in the game.

Coach Tom Crean attributes the turnovers to "sloppy play."

"A couple of times we tried to hit home runs instead of hitting singles," he said. "I had a feeling tonight we might be because there was going to be such an emphasis on controlling the boards that something else was going to suffer."

After getting tapped with two fouls early in the game, Travis Diener saw only ten minutes of action but posted five points and three rebounds in the first half. Diener came out playing hard in the second and turned in 15 points to lead the team with 20 total points, adding four assists and four rebounds.

"Someone just needed to step up and make a play," Diener said. "I got a couple of open looks and got to the free throw line and that helped the team and helped me start making shots in the second half."

Dameon Mason contributed 15 points and eight rebounds while Steve Novak?s 12 points rounded out Marquette?s double digit scorers.

Marquette next takes on the Jackrabbits of South Dakota State Tuesday, Dec. 7 at 7 p.m. at the Bradley Center.
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