MEN’S BASKETBALL: No. 21 Marquette Rallies For OT Win Over Creighton Behind Howard’s Career Night

By ERIC OLSON
AP Sports Writer

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Markus Howard scored 14 of his career-high 53 points in overtime after Sam Hauser’s deep 3-pointer at the end of regulation tied the game, and No. 21 Marquette beat Creighton 106-104 on Wednesday night.

Howard’s dazzling offensive performance set a Marquette record and broke his own record for points in a Big East game. His 53 points were the most by a player in a game matching Division I opponents this season, one behind the 54 Furman’s Jordan Lyons had against D-II North Greenville. Howard had 52 points against Providence last season. It was also the highest-scoring performance ever by a Creighton opponent.

Marquette never led until Howard scored on his team’s first possession of overtime. Marquette repeatedly cut into Creighton leads only to see the Bluejays pull ahead again.

But with the Golden Eagles within 85-82 and 0.8 seconds on the clock, Creighton’s long inbound pass touched nobody and rolled out of bounds on the other end.

That gave Marquette possession under its basket. Hauser caught the inbound on the left wing and launched a shot that left his fingertips just before the clock hit zeroes. The 3-pointer was ruled good immediately, and the call was upheld after a long video review.

Marquette (13-3, 2-1 Big East) won for the first time in four road games. Creighton (10-6, 1-2) dropped its second straight.

Sam Hauser and Joey Hauser added 13 points apiece for the Eagles, who made 16 of 28 3-pointers.

Most of those 3s were by Howard, who was unstoppable despite Davion Mintz’s best efforts to guard him.

Howard was 10 for 14 on 3s and 13 for 15 from the free-throw line.

Ty-Shon Alexander had 23 points, Mintz scored 21 and Martin Krampelj had 19 for the Bluejays.

The Bluejays, who got off to a terrible start in a loss at Butler on Saturday, came out much sharper. Mintz had 10 points in the first 6{ minutes, and the Bluejays built a 13-point advantage.

But Creighton went more than five minutes without a field goal late in the half. Meanwhile, Howard scored 10 of his 19 first-half points in a row as the Golden Eagles cut their deficit to 45-39 at the half.

BIG PICTURE

Marquette: The Eagles have won 10 of their last 11, and this team looks ready to go as far as Howard will take them. Breaking through on the road with a hard-earned win is huge.

Creighton: The Bluejays let one slip away, but a lot of teams would have with a guy like Howard doing what he was doing.

UP NEXT

Marquette hosts Seton Hall on Saturday.

Creighton hosts Villanova on Sunday.