Marquette 78, Arizona State 71: Jajuan Johnson scored a career-high 22 points as the Golden Eagles downed the visiting Sun Devils.
Indiana transfer Luke Fischer added career highs in points (19), rebounds (nine) and blocks (five) in a dazzling debut for Marquette (5-4), which was coming off a 38-point game in an 11-point loss to visiting Wisconsin on Dec. 6. The Golden Eagles, who also received 19 points from Duane Wilson and nine points and five assists from Matt Carlino, shot a season-best 57.1 percent from the field with 23 assists on 28 field goals.
Gerry Blakes scored 20 and Kodi Justice added 12 for Arizona State (6-4), which is 0-2 in true road games. The Sun Devils, who also received eight points and 10 rebounds from Eric Jacobsen, shot 38.7 percent and had 16 turnovers.
Marquette took a 43-32 advantage into the second half and the lead grew to 55-35 as Arizona State missed its first 10 shots during the opening 7:30. The Sun Devils never got closer than seven points down the stretch.
Arizona State pulled within 21-19 on Blakes’ trey with a little less than nine minutes to play in the opening half, but Marquette reeled off an 18-5 run over the next 5:30 and took the 11-point lead into the break. The Golden Eagles had a 28-14 first-half scoring advantage in the paint, thanks largely to Fischer, who was 5-of-6 from the field with 10 points, seven rebounds and four blocks in the opening 20 minutes.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Marquette’s opponents are averaging 16.3 turnovers per game. … UNLV transfer Savon Goodman had seven points off the bench before fouling out late in his Arizona State debut. … It was the second loss at the Bradley Center in nine months for the Sun Devils, which fell to Texas 87-85 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in March.
Arizona St. | Marquette | |
Gerry Blakes 20 | Scoring | JaJuan Johnson 22 |
Tra Holder 5 | Assists | Juan Anderson 7 |
Eric Jacobsen 10 | Rebounds | Luke Fischer 9 |
Gerry Blakes 4 | Free Throws Made | Duane Wilson 9 |
Tra Holder 2 | Steals | JaJuan Johnson 3 |
Chance Murray 1 | Blocks | Luke Fischer 5 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Arizona St. | 71 | 38.7 | 8-21 | 15-20 | 14 | 30 | 1 | 8 | 16 |
Marquette | 78 | 57.1 | 1-6 | 21-32 | 23 | 29 | 6 | 11 | 13 |