Howard Hits Scoring Record as MU Cruises to Season Opening Victory

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette University men's basketball team cruised to an 88-53 victory over Loyola Maryland to open its 2019-20 season Tuesday night at Fiserv Forum.

Preseason First Team All-American Markus Howard entered the game just 30 points away from becoming the program's all-time leading scorer. He passed MU great Jerel McNeal (2005-09) for No. 1 on the school's all-time scoring list with a 3-pointer less than one minute into the second half. Howard finished with 38 points on 11/20 shooting (7/10 3FG).

The Golden Eagles shot 51.7 percent from the field and a scorching 60.9 percent from 3-point range (14/23) Tuesday, helping them move to 87-16 (.843) all-time in campaign lid lifters. They've also claimed 27 of their last 29 season openers overall.

Redshirt senior Sacar Anim and Utah State transfer Koby McEwen joined Howard in double figures with 11 points each. Anim also tied a team-high with four assists while McEwen grabbed seven boards in his first game as a Golden Eagle.

Junior forward Theo John played an integral part to his team's defensive effort, blocking a career-high eight shots and grabbing a team-high eight rebounds. John and MU held Loyola to just 30.8 percent shooting from the floor and 22.2 percent from 3-point range.

The Golden Eagles started the game on a 26-3 run, with Howard scoring 22 of those points on 7/10 shooting from the floor. MU shot 43.3 percent from the field in the first half and got scoring contributions from eight different players on the way to a 44-15 lead at the halftime break.

In the second half, MU outscored LMU 44-38 and never let them get within 21 points the rest of the way.

UP NEXT:
Marquette continues its 2019-20 season on Wednesday, Nov. 13 at Fiserv Forum against Purdue at 8 p.m. as a part of the Gavitt Tipoff Games between the Big Ten and BIG EAST. FS1 will provide television coverage.