David Joplin scored 27 and Kam Jones added 24 to help No. 18 Marquette pull away late and avoid an upset bid, winning 82-63 against George Mason on Friday night in Milwaukee.
Joplin grabbed 10 boards, while Jones dished eight assists. Chase Ross and Ben Gold scored 11 and 10 points, respectively, for Marquette (2-0), which closed the game on a 21-4 run.
Former Virginia Tech transfer Darius Maddox led the Patriots (1-1) with 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the floor, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range. Brayden O’Connor scored 11 while K.D. Johnson chipped in 10 points off the bench.
The Golden Eagles started fast in front of their student-only crowd at the Al McGuire Center, scoring the game’s first 13 points.
That strong lead was short-lived however, as George Mason fought back and closed within 29-26 on O’Connor’s 3-pointer with 5:15 left in the first half.
The Patriots pulled even at 34 on Zach Anderson’s jumper and carried a 37-36 lead into halftime after Maddox’s triple with 49 seconds remaining. George Mason shot 41.9 percent from the floor in the half while holding Marquette to 27.8 percent shooting.
While George Mason fought hard in the second as well, Marquette picked it up offensively inside the arc, shooting 48.6 percent from the floor while going 6-of-17 (35.3 percent) from deep.
Joplin’s 3-pointer tied the score at 41 before the Golden Eagles took the lead for good on Ross’ dunk that made it 52-51 with 12:25 left.
After the Patriots crept within 61-59 with 6:18 to go, another Joplin trey ignited Marquette’s decisive surge run to close it out. Joplin added two more triples during the run.
The Golden Eagles drew seven more free-throw attempts than George Mason and shot 19-of-26 (73.1 percent) at the line compared with the Patriots’ 11-of-15 (73.3 percent) clip.
–Field Level Media
