strgrcaa
MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Anthony Drejaj scored 13 points and Dwayne Polk added 11 points to lead Saint Louis to an 51-39 upset victory over Marquette in a Conference USA game Saturday.
The Billikens (9-20) overcame a cold shooting first half in which they hit only 6-of-23 shots. It was their second straight conference game win. Saint Louis upset Memphis 70-61 on Wednesday.
Ian Vouyoukas added 10 points for Saint Louis, which raised its conference record to 6-10.
Marquette (19-10) lost its second of the three games it has played without its All-American candidate Travis Diener, who suffered a season ending hand injury in practice Feb. 22.
Steve Novak led Marquette with 10 points, while Todd Townsend and Joe Chapman added 8 points each.
Marquette, whose conference record dropped to 7-9, hit just 9-of-30 shots in the second half, including only two of 12 three-point shots. For the game, the Golden Eagles shot just 32.1 percent.
St. Louis went on a 10-2 run at the start of the second half to grab its first lead of the game at 24-21 when Vouyoukas scored on a short jumper with 11:44 remaining. Marquette only scored one basket in the first 10 minutes of the second half.
Marquette responded with a 7-0 run to take a 28-24 lead on Ryan Amorosos baseline jumper with 8:40 remaining.
The teams battled back and forth before St. Louis went on a 12-2 run to take a 41-34 lead when Vouyoukas scored on a layup with 1:41 remaining. Novak hit a three-pointer with 1:32 remaining for Marquette to cut the lead to 41-37. The Billikens hit 8-of-10 free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
Marquette grabbed a 19-14 halftime lead, despite shooting just 34.8 percent. Chapman led the Golden Eagles with six points. St. Louis hit just 6-of-23 shots in the first half and at one point went nine minutes without a point. It was the Billikens lowest first half point total of the season.
-
Notes: With his three-point shot with 3:41 remaining in the first half, Novak passed 1,000 points in his career. He became the 37th player in team history to score 1,000 career points. The loss broke Marquette's 16 straight home victory in March. The Golden Eagles last home loss in March came on March 10, 1995 when they were defeated by Saint Louis in the Great Midwest Tournament. The win was just the second in the last 10 games for Saint Louis in Milwaukee. It last won at Marquette during the 1997-98 season.
