Marquette looks to remain undefeated at home as it hosts Conference-USA rival Saint Louis at the Bradley Center on Saturday.
The No. 23 Golden Eagles (10-2, 1-0) play their next three games at home, where they have won 37 of the last 38 games, including all eight this season. They have not lost in Milwaukee since a 73-70 setback to then-No. 2 Louisville last Feb. 15, snapping a 28-game home winning streak.
Marquette's only losses this season have come on the road to teams currently ranked in the top 25. The Golden Eagles fell 85-75 to No. 3 Arizona on Dec. 13 and 63-59 to No. 21 Wisconsin on Dec. 20.
Marquette, which beat then-No. 23 Notre Dame 71-58 at home on Dec. 1, will host No. 11 Cincinnati four days after its matchup with St. Louis.
The Golden Eagles won 65-52 at Houston on Wednesday in their conference opener for their fourth straight victory overall.
Travis Diener scored 22 points, including five 3-pointers, and Scott Merrit had 17 points and 10 rebounds for Marquette, which went on a 9-0 run after the Cougars pulled within two points late in the game.
"Some of us have been together for three years,and we've been in a lot of tough situations," Diener said. "Scott made some great plays, and we relied on our poise to help us through this one."
Merritt's double-double was his fourth of the season and 18th of his career, ranking him fourth among active C-USA players.
"I thought we'd have to win this game the way we usually do, with defense and rebounding," coach Tom Crean said. "We knew coming in it was going to be a knock-down, drag-out fight and that's the way it was. Both of these teams are going to get better."
The Billikens (8-4, 1-0 C-USA) are coming off Wednesday's 60-50 win over Texas Christian in their conference opener - their straight fourth victory.
Josh Fisher scored 15 points, Anthony Drejaj had 12 and Tom Frericks added 10 for Saint Louis, which held the Horned Frogs to their lowest point total in 10 years.
Reggie Bryant, who leads the team with 16.9 points per game, managed just nine against TCU.
Marquette leads the all-time series 29-21, and has won the last six meetings.
