Slow Start Leads to Creighton Men's Basketball Loss at Marquette

MILWAUKEE, Wis. -- The Creighton men's basketball team lost 86-62 on Tuesday night at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wis.

Creighton (12-9, 6-4 BIG EAST) found itself in an early hole against Marquette (8-14, 3-8 BIG EAST), falling behind 19-11, before an MU avalanche put CU into a hole it could not recover from. The Golden Eagles had separate runs of 9-0 and 18-0 before the break and led 52-23 at halftime. MU outscored the Jays 34-8 in the paint before the break, led the rebound battle 22-14, and were paced by 11 points each from Royce Parham and Chase Ross. Eight different Bluejays scored in the first half, but none more than five off the bench by Fedor Zugic.

Marquette made 22-of-32 shots in the first half (68.8 percent) while holding Creighton to 30.3 percent marksmanship (10-33), including 2-of-17 accuracy from three-point range.

The Bluejays never got closer than 15 points (73-58) in the second half.

Blake Harper made his first six shots and had 15 points, while Austin Swartz contributed 17 points and dished a career-high six assists. CU owned a 28-14 advantage in bench points. The Jays shot 40.6 percent for the game and were 7-of-34 (20.6 percent) from three-point range.

The Golden Eagles were paced by 21 points from Nigel James Jr., and a career-high tying 19 points from Parham, with Chase Ross (13) and Adrien Stevens (12) also scoring in double-figures. MU outscored the Jays 52-24 in the paint and shot 57.6 percent from the floor.

The Bluejays are back in action on Saturday night at 7 p.m. when it hosts No. 2 Connecticut in its annual Creighton vs. Cancer Pink Out game.