Darryl Morsell scored 16 points and Justin Lewis added 11 as host Marquette rallied for a 64-56 victory over Butler in a Big East Conference game Saturday afternoon in Milwaukee.
Marquette (18-10, 10-7 Big East) trailed by as many as nine early and 33-30 at the half. The Golden Eagles lost three of their previous four games, including an 85-79 loss at Butler two weeks ago.
Oso Ighodaro scored on a drive down the lane to put Marquette up 52-49 with 7:24 remaining. Bo Hodges hit a pair of free throws for Butler, but the Bulldogs turned it over on their next two possessions. Lewis hit two free throws and Morsell followed with a 3-pointer to push the lead to 57-51 with just under five minutes remaining.
Butler’s Simas Lukosius hit a pair of free throws, but Lewis countered with a putback jam to make it 59-53 with 2:26 left. Butler then missed three of its next four free throws. Kam Jones’ layup made it 61-54 with just over a minute remaining.
Bryce Golden had 14 points, Aaron Thompson added 12, and Bryce Nze recorded 11 points and 10 rebounds for Butler (13-17, 6-13), which lost its fourth straight.
Marquette scored 22 points off 16 Butler turnovers and had a 14-6 advantage in fast break points. The Golden Eagles shot 41.1 percent from the field and were 6 of 24 from behind the arc.
Butler made just 7 of 25 shots in the second half, including 0 of 10 beyond the arc. The Bulldogs were just 4 of 23 from deep overall while shooting 38.2 percent from the field. Butler also was 10 of 18 from the free-throw line, including six second-half misses.
The Bulldogs pounded Marquette inside early. Butler hit 10 of its first 15 shots on the strength of eight assists, with 14 points in the paint en route to a 23-14 lead.
Butler shot 4 of 15 the rest of the half, along with committing eight of its nine turnovers, as Marquette closed to within 33-30 at the break.
–Field Level Media
