Markus Howard scored 17 points, and Joseph Chartouny came off the bench and added 13 points to lead Marquette to a 76-55 win over visiting Charleston Southern on Tuesday.
Chartouny, a graduate transfer from Fordham who led the nation in steals last season with 97, registered seven steals to go along with six assists.
Christian Keeling, who recorded the second triple-double in Buccaneers history against Coppin State on Friday, led Charleston Southern with 18 points, six rebounds and four assists.
Ty Jones and Duncan LeXander each added 11 points for the Buccaneers (4-3).
The Golden Eagles (5-2) won their second straight after beating Louisville in overtime on Friday in the NIT Season Tip-Off. Charleston Southern was coming off an easy win against Coppin State.
Nothing was easy for the Buccaneers against the Golden Eagles' transition defense. Once Ed Morrow's tip-in gave Marquette an 11-9 lead, it was all downhill for Charleston Southern.
Marquette's ball movement kept the Charleston Southern defense off balance and helped ignite the Golden Eagles' offense, which opened up a 22-12 lead at the 11:02 mark on a Brendan Bailey hoop.
Charleston Southern still had life, at least for short time.
With the Buccaneers trailing 32-21, Keeling sparked a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to four. The Golden Eagles scored six straight and held Charleston Southern scoreless the final 3:01 of the half to regain control.
Both teams committed 10 first-half turnovers, but Marquette shot much better than Charleston Southern to take a 38-28 lead at halftime.
Chartouny opened the second half with five straight points, and Marquette was in control the final 20 minutes. The closest the Buccaneers would get was on Jones' layup that made the score 43-32.
Marquette scored the next seven points, and when Chartouny sank a 3-point jumper, the Golden Eagles were up 50-32.
The Golden Eagles connected on 30 of 63 field-goal attempts (47.6 percent), including going 13-for-32 from beyond the arc. The Buccaneers made only 22 of 56 (39.3 percent) from the field and took 13 3-point shots, sinking five.
--Field Level Media
Charleston Southern | Marquette | |
Christian Keeling 18 | Scoring | Markus Howard 17 |
Christian Keeling 4 | Assists | Joseph Chartouny 6 |
Duncan LeXander 7 | Rebounds | Markus Howard 7 |
Christian Keeling 2 | Free Throws Made | Sam Hauser 3 |
Christian Keeling 4 | Steals | Joseph Chartouny 7 |
Sadarius Bowser 1 | Blocks | Sacar Anim 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Charleston Southern | 55 | 39.3 | 5-13 | 6-11 | 11 | 25 | 1 | 11 | 17 |
Marquette | 76 | 47.6 | 13-32 | 3-7 | 23 | 33 | 5 | 11 | 19 |