Anthony Cowan's 22 points led No. 5 Maryland to the championship of the Orlando Invitational on Sunday as it knocked off Marquette 84-63 in Florida.
Darryl Morsell added 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Terrapins (8-0), while Aaron Wiggins scored 15 points. Maryland led by as many as 25 points early in the second half and then held off a run by the 5-2 Golden Eagles. It shot 50 percent in the decisive first half and won the rebounding battle 40-30.
"I thought our defense was remarkable the whole game, except when we let our shots affect us," Terrapins coach Mark Turgeon said.
Brendan Bailey poured in a game-high 27 points for Marquette, going 7 of 12 on 3-pointers, and Sacar Anim scored 21. But the Golden Eagles' star player, senior guard Markus Howard, made just 1 of 12 shots from the field and finished with only six points -- 23 under his average.
Howard tallied 51 and 40 in the tournament's first two games. He missed all of his six 3-point attempts Sunday.
The Terrapins led by 46-21 early in the second half after an Eric Ayala layup, but Marquette trimmed the deficit to 65-53 on Bailey's 3-ball with 6:14 left. But it got no closer, with Maryland putting the game away with an 8-0 burst late that included a breakaway layup from Cowan.
The Golden Eagles led briefly on two occasions in the first half, but the Terrapins put their stamp on it about seven minutes into the game. Beginning with Hakim Hart's putback at the 12:46 mark, Maryland held Marquette scoreless for 4:54, rattling off 12 straight points for a 23-11 lead.
The margin stayed in double figures for the game's remainder, but the Terrapins really put the Golden Eagles in the problem late in the first half. A 7-0 burst in the final 1:42 was capped by Cowan's 3-pointer with seven seconds remaining, giving them a 42-21 halftime cushion.
Marquette converted only 8 of 30 field goal tries in the first half.
--Field Level Media
Maryland | Marquette | |
Anthony Cowan Jr. 22 | Scoring | Brendan Bailey 27 |
Anthony Cowan Jr. 4 | Assists | Koby McEwen 5 |
Darryl Morsell 10 | Rebounds | Jayce Johnson 11 |
Anthony Cowan Jr. 6 | Free Throws Made | Markus Howard 4 |
Anthony Cowan Jr. 3 | Steals | Brendan Bailey 2 |
Jalen Smith 3 | Blocks | Jayce Johnson 1 |