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MILWAUKEE – Marquette held off a late second half rally from Providence to earn its first BIG EAST Conference win on Saturday afternoon against Providence, 75-66, at the BMO Harris Bradley Center
The Friars pulled within four points on a LaDontae Henton 3-pointer with just 37 seconds remaining, but the Golden Eagles (9-5, 1-1 BIG EAST) hit five of six free throws down the stretch to improve to 9-0 all-time against PC in Milwaukee.
Senior forward Juan Anderson led Marquette with 18 points and was one of four Golden Eagles in double figures as Luke Fischer, Matt Carlino and Sandy Cohen III (Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin) all reached double digits.
Henton, the BIG EAST’s leading scorer, poured in a game-high 28 points for Providence (11-4, 1-1 BIG EAST), which blocked 10 MU shots in the loss.
Marquette was able to prevail after leading by as many as 12 points on Saturday after blowing a 13-point second half lead against DePaul in its BIG EAST opener on New Year’s Eve.
The Golden Eagles erased an early seven-point deficit to begin the game after Cohen entered and promptly hit consecutive 3-pointers. MU would go up by as many as five points in the first half but PC tied the score, 33-33, just before the half on a pair of free throws from center Paschal Chukwu.
Cohen was a perfect 4-of-4 from the floor in the first half and topped his previous career high of 11 points in just seven first half minutes.
Fischer, MU’s leading scorer entering Saturday’s contest with 13.6 points through his first five games in Blue and Gold, made his first career start against the Friars.
Marquette is 8-2 all-time in its first BIG EAST home game of each season since joining the league for the 2005-06 campaign. MU is also 14-5 against the Friars in 19 meetings and has captured 11 of the last 12 contests in the series.
The Golden Eagles resume BIG EAST Conference action on Tuesday, Jan. 6 against Georgetown at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. at 6 p.m. Central time. The game will be broadcast live on FOX Sports 1.
Postgame Notes:
- MU is 8-2 all-time in its first BIG EAST home game of the season since joining the league for the 2005-06 campaign.
- Marquette leads the all-time series with the Friars 14-5, including a perfect 9-0 record in Milwaukee.
- Trailing 12-7, Sandy Cohen, III entered the game and hit back-to-back 3-pointers. A Juan Anderson steal after Cohen’s second three allowed Jajuan Johnson to hit a lay-up to give Marquette a 15-14 edge. A 10-2 run gave MU a 17-14 lead with 10:37 remaining the first half.
- Providence’s LaDontae Henton hit two threes in consecutive possessions after the Friars fell behind 23-18. Cohen was able to answer both jumpers with two lay-ups, but the Friars tied it up at 27 at the 4:28 mark when Paschal Chukwu was fouled while finishing a dunk.
- Cohen tallied a new career-high with 12 points on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting all in seven first half minutes.
