#MUBB topples No. 10 Illinois, 67-66, in Gavitt Tipoff Games

Box Score (PDF)

MILWAUKEE - The Marquette University men's basketball team toppled No. 10 Illinois, 67-66, at Fiserv Forum on Monday in the Gavitt Tipoff Games.

Guard Tyler Kolek scored the game-winning basket on layup with 18 seconds to go, and the Golden Eagle defense forced a last-second turnover to pick up the win.

Darryl Morsell paced Marquette (3-0, 0-0 BIG EAST) with 21 points, while Justin Lewis added 17 points. Kolek totaled a team-high five assists in the contest in addition to five rebounds.

The victory marks Marquette's 128th all-time victory over an Associated Press Top-25 team, and the 49th over a top-10 team at the time of the meeting. The Golden Eagles' last win over a top-10 team came on Dec. 15, 2020 when MU toppled No. 9 Creighton, 89-84.

For Illinois (2-1, 0-0 Big Ten), Trent Frazier led with 23 points, while three other players scored double digits.

Notables:

This matchup was part of the sixth annual Gavitt Tipoff Games, named in honor of BIG EAST founder Dave Gavitt. The series pits BIG EAST teams against Big Ten foes during the first full week of the college basketball regular season.
This was the 15th meeting between the programs, but the first in 28 years. The last contest came in 1993, when Marquette defeated No. 16 Illinois, 74-65, in Milwaukee.
Shaka Smart is just the fourth Marquette head coach to defeat a top-10 opponent in his first season. The last was Hank Raymonds during the 1977-78 campaign.
The Golden Eagles forced the Illini into 26 turnovers in the game, including 15 in the first half.
Morsell, who transferred to Marquette from Maryland, put up a then-career-high 19 points in his last appearance against Illinois as a Terrapin.
The Fighting Illini led by as many as 12 with ten minutes to play in the second half, but MU held them scoreless for the final 3:04 of the game.
MU trailed 65-57 with 5:33 left on a Coleman Hawkins dunk. That was U of I's final field goal as MU scored 10 of the final 11 points down the stretch for the win.
Graduate transfer Kur Kuath tied his career high for blocks with five, which he accomplished twice with Oklahoma.

Up Next: Marquette will make its first road trip of the season, taking on Ole Miss on Thursday in Charleston, South Carolina. Tip will be at 6 p.m. Central on ESPN2.