DePaul hung around for a half, but Junior Cadougan and company were simply too much as Marquette won its second straight game, 89-78, over the Blue Demons Saturday afternoon.
Cadougan finished with 17 points, scoring 13 of Marquette’s 20 points at one point.
Many of those shots came on layups after getting by defenders with crossovers or ball screens.
“I just saw openings and kept seeing them,” Cadougan said. “If I see an opening, I’m going to keep on going. If they stop me, I’m going to find my teammates and they’ll make something happen.”
DePaul was able to stay in the game because it hit 10 3-pointers, but poor defense ultimately did the Blue Demons in.
Marquette shot 56.4 percent from the field for the game and also had double-digit scoring efforts from Chris Otule (10), Vander Blue (18), Davante Gardner (13) and Jamil Wilson (11).
Brandon Young led all scorers with 21 points.
The Golden Eagles led 43-38 at halftime, while shoot 56.7 percent in the first 20 minutes. Cadougan had 10 points to lead all scorers in the first half.
Coach Buzz Williams said he has been impressed with Blue’s maturity this year, saying he is much different than at this point last year.
“Vander has really matured as a person,” Williams. “Conversations with Vander throughout the day, he has just really grown up.
“A conversation with him at this time last year was completely different.”
Blue had 18 points on just nine shots and made all eight of his free throws.
Marquette scored 50 of its 78 points in the paint and outscored the Blue Demons 50-30 in the paint for the game.
DePaul cut the Marquette advantage to five with 9:34 to play on a put-back dunk by Montray Clemons, but the Golden Eagles answered with a pair of Todd Mayo lay ups to extend the Marquette lead back to nine.
DePaul then cut the lead to four after a lay up by Worrell Clahar, but a three-point play from Gardner on the ensuing possession made it 80-73 Marquette with just over four minutes to play.
Perhaps the biggest play of the game came when Trent Lockett stuffed Jamee Crockett on what appeared to be a sure layup that would have cut the lead to five with 3:36 left. Instead, Blue hit a pair of free throws on the other end and Marquette led 82-73.
With the win, Marquette (8-2 Big East) claimed sole possession of first place for the second straight Saturday, a half game ahead of idle Syracuse. The Orange host St. John’s tomorrow afternoon.
Williams still isn’t convinced this is a great team and isn’t even sure it’s NCAA Tournament-worthy at this point.
“I think there’s so much parity in college basketball,” Williams said. “When you look at our league, you can probably say who’s not going to the NCAA Tournament, but those are the most dangerous teams to play.”
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