David Joplin scored a career-high 23 points and four other players scored in double figures as Marquette took control early and rolled to a 97-73 nonconference victory over Central Michigan on Thursday night in Milwaukee.
Marquette (2-0), which struggled to put Radford away in a 79-69 season-opening win on Monday, gained command with a 20-2 run midway through the first half and pushed the lead to 30 points before Central Michigan rallied within 47-29 at the break.
The Golden Eagles outscored Central Michigan 22-11 to open the second half, pushing the lead back to 69-40 on Sean Jones’ 3-pointer.
Joplin, a 6-foot-7 sophomore forward, hit 8 of 12 shots, including 6 of 10 3-pointers. Olivier-Maxence Prosper had 13 points, Ben Gold and Chase Ross had 11 apiece, and Oso Ighodaro added 10.
Jesse Zarzuela had 17 points, Brian Taylor 15, and Kevin Miller 14 for Central Michigan, playing its regular-season opener after an 88-61 exhibition victory over Northwood.
Stevie Mitchell’s 3-pointer from the right corner capped a 12-point run that put Marquette in front 29-11 with 10:24 left in the first half.
After a jumper by Central Michigan’s Carrington McCaskill, the Golden Eagles ran off another eight points, pushing the lead to 37-13 on a breakaway jam by Prosper.
Tyler Kolek’s 3-pointer gave Marquette its biggest lead of the half at 45-15 with just under six minutes remaining.
Marquette shot 57 percent in the first half, scoring 11 points off 11 Central Michigan turnovers. Central Michigan made just 11 of 31 shots in the first half, including 2 of 13 from beyond the arc.
Central Michigan bounced back to shoot 56 percent in the second half. Marquette’s deficiencies were 14-of-27 free-throw shooting and allowing the Chippewas a 12-3 advantage in second-chance points.
The game was played at Marquette’s 3,700-seat Al McGuire Center on campus instead of the Golden Eagles’ regular home court at the Fiserv Forum, also home of the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks with a basketball capacity of 17,385.
–Field Level Media