Markus Howard, the nation's leading scorer, delivered a game-high 31 points to rally Marquette to a 76-72 victory over visiting DePaul on Saturday afternoon in Milwaukee.

DePaul led for nearly the entire game -- and all of the second half -- until Howard hit a stepback jumper to give the Golden Eagles a 72-70 edge with 1:22 to play. Howard and Koby McEwen added two free throws apiece in the final 10 seconds to keep DePaul at bay.

McEwen scored 13 points and Jayce Johnson added 11 for Marquette (16-6, 6-4 Big East), which trailed 61-54 with 8:29 to go.

Charlie Moore scored 21 points to lead DePaul (13-9, 1-8), which lost its fourth in a row. Jaylen Butz and Paul Reed added 14 points apiece and Jalen Coleman-Lands contributed 13.

DePaul built a 40-34 halftime lead as the Blue Demons used a 6-0 run midway through the half to assert a little control. With DePaul's big men in foul trouble, Moore (12 points, five assists) and Coleman-Lands (11 points) did most of the first-half work.

Meanwhile, Howard served as virtually a one-man show for the Golden Eagles. He piled up 21 of the team's 34 points and made 5 of 12 3-pointers, while the rest of the team was 0 for 9 behind the arc.

Howard didn't take his first shot in the second half until 12:31 remained -- when he missed a 3-pointer from the top of the key that would've snapped a 50-50 tie.

DePaul rebuilt a 61-54 lead when Moore drove the lane and fed Butz for a layup with 8:29 to go. Howard finally earned his first second-half points with 6:18 left to pull Marquette within 63-60.

Howard's huge jumper with 1:22 left gave Marquette its first lead since his triple gave the Golden Eagles their only first-half lead at 21-20 with 9:49 left.

--Field Level Media