LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Junior Brandon Davies and senior Noah Hartsock combined for 34 points but the 14-seed BYU men’s basketball team fell 88-68 to the third-seeded Marquette Golden Eagles in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament.
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Davies led the Cougars with 19 points and pulled down 12 rebounds to record his second-straight double double. Hartsock added 15 points, including 13 in the second half. He also picked up one block to leave him in a tie with Shawn Bradley for 177 career blocks, second all-time at BYU.
Junior Craig Cusick tied a career high with 12 points. Turnovers and Marquette offensive boards plagued BYU, as the Golden Eagles scored 42 of their 88 points off turnovers and second chance opportunities.
Marquette jumped out to an early 6-0 lead that it extended to 14-4 in the first four minutes of game time. The Cougars started 2 of 11 from the field and fell behind 18-5 at the 14:36 mark.
Davies hit a reverse lay up to narrow it back to single digits at 18-9 with 13:14 left in the half. Carlino followed that with a trey to bring BYU back within six points at 20-14. The Golden Eagles responded with an 8-0 run over two minutes to go up 28-14.
The Golden Eagles snagged 10 offensive rebounds in the first half and scored 13 second chance points. Davies led BYU in the half with nine points while Zylstra added eight, but BYU went into the locker room trailing Marquette 49-34.
Davies scored the first six points of the second half to lead the Cougars on a 9-1 run to bring the score within nine. Senior Charles Abouo scored his only points of the game with 15:25 left with a three that made the score 52-46.
Marquette again responded, going on an 8-0 run before Hartsock scored six straight to make it 60-52. The Golden Eagles jumped back out to a 17-point lead with a 9-0 run that made it 69-52 with just over 10 minutes remaining.
BYU was unable to get back within single digits following the Marquette run. The Cougars narrowed it to 10 with 3:13 left before allowing a 10-0 run in the final three minutes.
With the loss, the Cougars complete their sixth-straight season with an NCAA berth and at least 25 wins. This was also the third consecutive year with a win in the NCAA tournament for BYU.