Bucknell University
0-2
Marquette (CBE Classic)
2-0
Late Surge Lifts Marquette Past Bucknell, 72-61
11/14/2010 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 14, 2010
MILWAUKEE, Wis. - Playing on the road in the Big East for the second time in less than 48 hours, Bucknell had Marquette on the ropes for more than 30 minutes, but the Golden Eagles stunned the Bison with a late 24-0 run and prevailed 72-61 in an O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic game played before 13,783 at the Bradley Center on Sunday afternoon. Bryson Johnson scored 18 points and Joe Willman had 11 points, nine rebounds and four assists for the Bison, who play their home opener Wednesday against Binghamton.
G.W. Boon also scored 11 points for Bucknell (0-2), which led by 13 early in the second half and still by 12 with 10:13 to play. But the Golden Eagles (2-0) scored 24 points in a row and finished with the game on a 27-4 run.
Dwight Buycks led a 47-point performance by the Marquette bench with a team-high 17. Davante Crowder added 11 points, including eight big ones down the stretch, and Jae Crowder chipped in 10 points and 10 rebounds.
The Bison led by 10 points early on and after weathering a Marquette run, took a 41-33 halftime lead. The Golden Eagles scored the opening bucket of the second half, but then Bucknell scored seven straight, the last on a Mike Muscala jam, forcing Marquette to call timeout down 13 at 48-35.
Five straight points by Dwight Buycks pulled Marquette within 50-43, and then Muscala picked up his fourth foul on a charging call with 13:31 remaining. Colin Klebon gave the Bison some strong minutes off the bench, making a layup and taking a charge to set up another bucket.
A Willman jumper and short baseline shot by Cameron Ayers in transition put the Bison back up 54-43, prompting another Marquette timeout.
The Bison still led by 12 at 57-45, but then Marquette stormed back with the decisive run. Five straight points, the last three coming from beyond the arc, by Vander Blue pulled Marquette within 57-56. The Golden Eagles took their first lead since 9-8 on a follow by Gardner, and after a missed front end of a one-and-one, Buycks canned a three to make it 63-57.
Gardner's 3-point play with 3:09 left made it 66-57, and Marquette went up by as many as 12 on another Gardner free throw with 1:41 to play.
The Bison made 10 of their first 13 field-goal attempts while racing out to an early 26-16 lead. Johnson got them going with a couple of 3-pointers, and Willman had a follow and two elbow jumpers. Bucknell's lead was 18-16, then G.W. Boon hit a trey, Muscala powered in for a layup and Bryan Cohen swished a 3-pointer to put the Bison up by 10 with 10:46 left in the half.
Marquette went to a full-court press and got an energy boost from a handful of Bucknell turnovers. Reggie Smith's steal in the backcourt led to a layup that pulled the Golden Eagles within 26-24, and after Cohen stopped the 8-0 run with a jumper, Marquette tied it on two free throws by Dwight Buycks and a layup by Jimmy Butler.
But the Bison withstood the charge and outscored the Golden Eagles 11-3 over the final 3:10 of the half to reclaim an eight-point lead. Nine of those points came on Johnston trifectas, and the other two came when Willman hit two free throws after a great pass from Johnson.
Johnson's six 3-pointers tied his career high. Bucknell finished 9-for-19 from the arc, and despite shooting better than 60 percent from the field for most of the day, finished at 45.1 percent. Marquette shot 45.8 percent and went 5-for-13 from the arc. The Golden Eagles outscored the Bison 23-6 from the free-throw line.
Bucknell next plays its home opener on Wednesday night against Binghamton. Tip-off is 7 p.m. at Sojka Pavilion.
