D.J. Carton scored 17 of his 20 points after halftime and Dawson Garcia and Koby McEwen added 12 points apiece to boost Marquette to a 77-71 win against DePaul on Tuesday night in Chicago.
Marquette (12-13, 7-11 Big East) won for the third time in four games to close a season-high, six-game road trip at 3-3.
Despite 20 points from Pauly Paulicap and a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds from Romeo Weems, the Blue Demons (4-13, 2-13 Big East) concluded the regular season with their eighth loss in nine games.
The Golden Eagles and Blue Demons combined for 25 turnovers.
After reaching halftime tied, DePaul missed its first six shots of the second half and struggled to steady its attack after that, shooting 40.8 percent for the game.
Still, with the Golden Eagles faring only marginally better from the field, the Blue Demons stuck around. A jumper by DePaul's David Jones tied the game at 45 with 11:48 to play, and although the Blue Demons promptly went scoreless for the next four minutes, the Weems three-point play that snapped the drought started a 7-0 run that put the hosts ahead 52-51 with 6:19 to go.
Marquette responded by scoring the next four points, on baskets by Jamal Cain and Carton, and never trailed after that.
Greg Elliott scored 11 points for the Golden Eagles while Cain (nine rebounds) and Carton (seven) proved effective on the boards. Ray Salnave had 13 points and seven rebounds for DePaul, and Charlie Moore chipped in nine points.
Marquette snapped a two-game losing streak in the teams' series. The Golden Eagles avenged a 68-61 home loss to the Blue Demons on Jan. 23 to earn a season split for the second straight campaign.
The game was tied at 36 at halftime, with DePaul staying afloat behind 22 points in the paint. With Theo John (illness) limited to two minutes and Justin Lewis battling foul trouble, the Blue Demons took advantage while also capitalizing on eight Marquette turnovers.
Javon Freeman-Liberty (concussion protocol) missed his fifth straight game for the Blue Demons. DePaul's Oscar Lopez Jr. and Nick Ongenda both were out due to ankle sprains.
--Field Level Media
Marquette | DePaul | |
D.J. Carton 20 | Scoring | Pauly Paulicap 20 |
Koby McEwen 4 | Assists | Charlie Moore 6 |
Jamal Cain 9 | Rebounds | Romeo Weems 10 |
D.J. Carton 5 | Free Throws Made | Pauly Paulicap 4 |
D.J. Carton 2 | Steals | Ray Salnave 2 |
Greg Elliott 2 | Blocks | Pauly Paulicap 3 |