STORRS, Conn. – Solo Ball scored 11 of his 17 points in the second half and Tarris Reed Jr. finished with 13 points and nine rebounds as No. 4 UConn earned a 73-57 victory over Marquette on Sunday to extend its winning streak to 10 games.
Silas Demary Jr. had 14 points for UConn (14-1, 4-0 Big East).
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Nigel James had 13 points and Chase Ross added 11 for Marquette (5-10, 0-4), which opened conference play with four straight losses for the first time since dropping its first five Conference USA games during the 1998-99 season.
Ball had seven points in the first 5:15 of the second half as the Huskies began to pull away. He took a pass from Reed and converted on a three-point play to give the Huskies a 48-33 lead with 14:45 left in the second half. Baskets by Reed and Eric Reibe pushed the lead to 19. UConn’s first 20-point lead came on a J aylin stewart dunk with 8:12 remaining.
UConn took its largest lead of the first half on a three-pointer from Demary to put the Huskies ahead 31-19 with 4:12 left in the first half. Ross had five points as Marquette chipped away at the lead. Baskets from Ross and Joshua Clark brought Marquette within five points. Reed made a free throw, then dunked with 2.7 seconds left to give the Huskies a 37-29 halftime lead.
Four Marquette starters and three UConn starters were whistled for at least two fouls during a turbulent first half. Marquette had a chance to make three three-point plays, but only converted the foul shot in one of those three layups while being fouled.
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Sean Jones, who started three games this season, was one of four injured Marquette players who missed the game. Jayden Ross missed his second straight game for UConn.
Following
Marquette hosts Xavier on Wednesday.
UConn visits Providence on Wednesday.
