#MUBB Holds Off Xavier On The Road, 72-70

The No. 9/9 Marquette University men’s basketball team (11-2, 2-0 BIG EAST) continued BIG EAST play with a thrilling 72-70 win at Xavier (8-4, 0-1 BIG EAST) on Saturday afternoon at Cintas Center.

Senior forward David Joplin finished with 19 points and five rebounds and guard Kam Jones added 20 points and eight assists.

Marquette opened the second half shooting 10-of-15 from the floor to pull ahead by double digits and led 59-44 with 7:25 left in regulation, but Xavier responded with a run of its own courtesy in large part of free throw shooting.  XU took the lead with less than four minutes left thanks to a 14-2 run, but MU responded for the victory.

The Golden Eagles led by as many as six points in the first half and 27-22 at the intermission, despite shooting just 37.9 percent from the floor.  MU’s defense was on point the entire opening 20 minutes, holding the Musketeers to just 32.1 percent from the floor and forcing six turnovers.

Notables:

• Marquette now leads the all-time series 60-27 and has won five-straight against Xavier
• Senior forward David Joplin became the 54^th player in MU history with 1,000 career points with a layup early in the second half
• With 20 points today, Jones moved into 12th place all-time in scoring at MU with 1,655 points, passing Dean Meminger, Damon Key and Darius Johnson-Odom

UP NEXT:
Marquette returns to action on Tuesday, Dec. 31 at 5 p.m. CT when the team travels to Providence on New Year’s Eve to continue BIG EAST play.

Keep up with the Marquette men’s basketball program through social media by following on X (@MarquetteMBB) and Instagram (@marquette.basketball) and ‘liking’ on Facebook (/MarquetteMensBB). Fans interested in tickets can contact the Marquette Ticket Office online or at 414-288-GOMU (4668).f

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.