Marquette Golden Eagles vs Connecticut Huskies Match Player Stats On Feb 27, 2021

James Bouknight and R.J. Cole carried UConn's offense, and the defense smothered Marquette 80-62 in Storrs, Conn., on Saturday afternoon to sweep the season series between the Big East Conference rivals.

Bouknight scored 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting and hit all six of his free throws, and Cole netted 21 on 9-of-14 from the field as the Huskies (12-6, 9-6) bolstered their at-large resume for the NCAA Tournament with two games left in the regular season. Cole also hit 3-of-6 on 3-pointers.

Freshman Dawson Garcia finished with 18 points and eight rebounds, and Justin Lewis added 14 points for Marquette (11-13, 6-11), which shot only 39.3 percent from the floor and had 15 turnovers.

Tyler Polley added nine points, all on 3-pointers, and Tyrese Martin added eight rebounds for UConn, which entered the game leading the conference and in the top 50 in Division I in allowing only 64.8 points per game.

Jamal Cain chipped in seven rebounds for Marquette, which shot 48.3 percent in the second half after the game was largely decided.

The Huskies built a 17-point lead at halftime, and Marquette struggled to make a run in the second half, at one point cutting the gap to 11 on a dunk by Lewis before Cole answered with a 3-pointer make it 55-41, with 9:57 left in the game.

UConn shot 51.6 percent for the game and 28.6 percent (6-of-21) from long range. Marquette made 25 percent (4-of-16) of its 3-pointers.

After a slow start by both teams, UConn capitalized on a Marquette cold streak to go on a 12-2 run, including four points each by Bouknight and Martin, to take a 16-11 lead with 8:12 left in the first half.

Things didn't get much better for the Golden Eagles, who shot only 29.6 percent in the first half and had 10 turnovers. The Huskies, who had 20 points in the paint to just four for Marquette in the half, hit 51.6 percent from the field and never let a Marquette basket go unanswered.

UConn went on a 15-2 burst, including eight points from Cole, who hit two 3-pointers in the stretch. Polley's trey capped the run, which pushed the lead to 33-17.

Another 3-pointer from Polley, who hit five of them in UConn's win at Marquette on Jan. 5, grew the gap to 38-21 at halftime.

Cole led all scorers with 10 at the break, followed by eight from Bouknight. Martin added seven rebounds.

Greg Elliott, who hit back-to-back 3-pointers early in the game, and Garcia led Marquette with six apiece.

--Field Level Media