Marquette 95, Cincinnati 78

By The Sports Xchange

MILWAUKEE -- Frontcourt injuries have forced Marquette to change plenty. Luckily for the Golden Eagles, seniors Darius Johnson-Odom and Jae Crowder have remained constants.

Johnson-Odom and Crowder both finished with 23 points as Marquette overcame another early deficit to take down Cincinnati 95-78 on Saturday afternoon at the Bradley Center.

Playing without forward Davante Gardner for the fourth straight game because of a knee injury, the Golden Eagles have been forced to play smaller and faster. They did just that against the Bearcats, using a barrage of 3-pointers and transition baskets to make up for their lack of size in the interior.

With a front court of 6-foot-7 Jamil Wilson and 6-foot-6 Crowder, the pair held Cincinnati???s Yancy Gates to 11 points on 5-of-13 shooting.

Gates scored most of his points with the game out of hand. Entering the game, he was averaging 12.7 points and 9.2 rebounds.

Wilson finished with 15 points while guard Vander Blue helped the undersized Golden Eagles with 14 points and a team-high seven rebounds.

Despite being outrebounded 42-29, the Golden Eagles managed to maintain a lead by shooting 56 percent from the field, turning the ball over just seven times.

The 95 points were the most points the Golden Eagles have scored in conference play, coming against a Cincinnati team holding Big East opponents under 64 points per game.

An 8-2 Cincinnati run early in the second half shrunk Marquette???s lead to eight points. But the Golden Eagles responded with a 10-2 run, capped off by a Todd Mayo breakaway slam dunk that extended the lead to 17.

The Golden Eagles finished with 25 fast break points, with Johnson-Odom doing much of the damage. The Bearcats had no answer for the 6-foot-2 guard, who constantly outran the Cincinnati defense to keep the quick pace in Marquette's favor.

Early on, however, it was Cincinnati which came out running. Dion Dixon scored on four consecutive possessions, three on fast breaks, to give the Bearcats a 12-point lead, 16-4, just five minutes in.

On the other end, Marquette struggled to find open looks against Cincinnati???s full-court pressure and 2-3 zone, missing five of its first seven shots.

But the Golden Eagles responded, forcing turnovers and breaking out in transition on missed shots and on turnovers to outrun the Cincinnati defense. Marquette finished the first half with 16 points off nine Cincinnati turnovers and scored 17 fast break points.

Johnson-Odom led the way with 13 points, including a driving layup as time expired to cap a 7-0 Marquette run and give the Golden Eagles a 47-35 lead at intermission.

Dixon finished with 15 points and JaQuon Parker added 15 more for the Bearcats. Gates and Cashmere Wright (14 points) were the other two Bearcats in double figures.

Copyright (C) 2012 The Sports Xchange. All Rights Reserved.