Kam Jones racked up 23 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals as No. 5 Marquette rolled past visiting Rider 95-65 on Friday night in Milwaukee.
Oso Ighodaro put up a 13-point, 11-rebound double-double, and David Joplin and Chase Ross each scored 11 points for the Golden Eagles (2-0), who shot 54.8 percent as a team and made 13 of 30 3-pointers (43.3 percent).
Jones, who scored 20 points in Marquette’s season-opening win over Northern Illinois on Monday, went 5-for-11 from the 3-point arc against Rider (1-1).
Mervin James had 15 points and eight rebounds but committed five turnovers for the Broncs, the favorites to win the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference per the coaches’ preseason poll.
T.J. Weeks Jr., who transferred from UMass, scored 14 points while tying a career high with 12 rebounds.
Tariq Ingraham added 11 points and eight rebounds, as the Broncs outrebounded the Golden Eagles 39-37.
DJ Dudley (nine points) hit a jumper to pull Rider within 26-21 with 10:23 left in the first half before Marquette began to pull away. The Golden Eagles scored the next nine points, capped by David Joplin’s 3-pointer at the 7:01 mark. He drained another 25 seconds later.
Ross’ dunk with 1:23 left in the half was the finishing touch as Marquette took a 49-32 lead into the locker room.
Rider kept within 20 for the first few minutes of the second half but Ighodaro’s emphatic dunk, assisted by Sean Jones, made it 66-41 with 14:22 to play.
Freshman Zaide Lowery watched a 3-pointer go down, which gave Marquette a 30-point lead at 76-46 with 11:28 to go.
Coach Shaka Smart emptied his bench late in the game, and 11 different players scored for the Golden Eagles. Sean Jones had eight points, six assists and four rebounds in just 19 minutes.
Big East Preseason Player of the Year Tyler Kolek had six points, six assists and five rebounds in 21 minutes.
–Field Level Media