Blue Demons Come Up Short at Marquette

Wednesday, January 23

Milwaukee, Wis.

7:30 P.M. CT

DePaul University

11-7

Marquette

17-3

DePaul

Marquette

1/23/2019 10:41:00 PM | MEN'S BASKETBALL

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DePaul drops 79-69 game in Milwaukee

MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Trailing by double digits at halftime for the first time this season, DePaul battled back in the second half, but couldn't overcome the deficit in a79-69 loss at No. 12/11 Marquette. The Blue Demons moved to within four points on four different occasions after halftime as Paul Reed led four players in double figures with 18 points.

The first 10 minutes played close and the Blue Demons held a four-point advantage at 16-12 following a driving layup by Lyrik Shreiner. Marquette answered and slowly overtook the Blue Demons to build a nine-point lead following two free throws with just under four minutes left until halftime.

Shreiner buried a three-pointer from the wing on DePaul's final possession of the first half, but a Marquette tip-in just beat the buzzer and the Golden Eagles took a 40-27 lead at intermission.

DePaul (11-7, 3-4 BIG EAST) started quickly out of the break with the first eight points of the second half. The Blue Demons held Marquette scoreless for nearly four minutes and trailed 43-35 with 15:51 left in the game.

The Blue Demons continued to chip away and trailed by four at 56-52 following back-to-back buckets from Paul Reed and Max Strus forcing a Marquette time out with 7:22 on the clock. Coming out of the break, the Golden Eagles scored seven of the game's next nine points and held a 65-56 advantage at the four-minute mark. DePaul would get no closer than six points over the final 1:39 after two free throws by Femi Olujobi made the score 71-65.

Reed added seven rebounds to his 18 points while Olujobi's 15 points and 11 boards notched his second straight double-double. Devin Gage totaled 11 points, seven rebounds, five assists and four steals and Strus scored 12 points with five assists.

Marquette (17-3, 6-1 BIG EAST) was led by Markus Howard's 23 points and nine assists that included a 15-for-15 effort from the free throw line. Theo John added a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double for the Golden Eagles.

DePaul concludes its three-game road swing on Sunday afternoon at Providence. Start time at Dunkin' Donuts Center is Noon ET on FS1 and WSCR (670 AM).