Jaime Jaquez Jr. recorded his second double-double of the season with 24 points and 11 rebounds to lead No. 4 UCLA to a 67-56 road victory over Marquette on Saturday night in Milwaukee.
The Bruins (9-1) won their fourth consecutive game since suffering their lone loss to Gonzaga on Nov. 23. Marquette (8-3) has lost two of its past three as it heads into its Big East opener next Saturday at Xavier.
Johnny Juzang and Tyger Campbell each finished with 12 points for UCLA, which scored 19 points off 11 Marquette turnovers. The Bruins outrebounded the Golden Eagles 17-8 on the offensive glass, leading to 19 second-chance points. Myles Johnson finished with seven points and eight rebounds.
Greg Elliott led the Golden Eagles with 22 points and hit 6 of 9 3-pointers. Justin Lewis finished with 12 points and nine rebounds while Darryl Morsell totaled 11 points, four rebounds and three assists.
The game was pushed back seven hours due to an issue with the Bruins’ aircraft that forced a change in travel plans.
But it clearly didn’t affect UCLA much as it jumped all over Marquette quickly and led 33-10 with 5:02 left in the first half.
Olivier-Maxence Prosper’s layup capped a 9-1 run which cut the Golden Eagles’ deficit to 57-44 with 8:04 left in the fourth.
Jaquez Jr. had the answer once again, slicing his way to the basket and scoring to help UCLA stem the tide. Marquette cut the deficit to 65-56 with 47.8 left on a dunk by Lewis.
But Campbell hit a pair of free throws at the other end to thwart any hopes the Golden Eagles had to pull a miraculous late comeback.
Outside of Elliott’s proficiency from long distance, Marquette struggled from beyond the arch as the rest of its players went 2 for 24 from 3.
UCLA went 9 for 24 from 3-point range, which offset some of their shooting struggles overall as it shot 36.4 percent (24 for 66).
–Field Level Media