Tampa, FL – Vander Blue and Todd Mayo each scored 13 points to lead the 24th-ranked Marquette Golden Eagles over the South Florida Bulls, 70-47, on Wednesday.
Junior Cadougan added 11 points for the Golden Eagles (16-5, 7-2 Big East), who bounced back from a 70-51 loss to former No. 1 Louisville on Sunday. Jamil Wilson tallied 10 points.
"We got them to play the pace we wanted to play at," Blue said. "We threw the first punch and we just kept throwing them."
Zach LeDay ended with 14 points for the Bulls (10-12, 1-9), who have lost five in a row. Victor Rudd donated eight points.
Marquette never looked back after Cadougan opened the scoring with a four- point play. The Golden Eagles jumped out to a 13-3 lead due to South Florida's sloppy play.
Holding a 17-10 lead with 11:20 left, Marquette ended the half on a 22-6 run to create a comfortable margin. Mayo tallied 11 points during the burst to make it a 39-16 game at the break.
The Bulls shot just 27.8 percent and had 14 turnovers in the opening half. On the other hand, the Golden Eagles shot 53.8 percent.
"We dug ourselves a bad hole in the first half," South Florida coach Stan Heath said. "Once they got off to that lead, it was hard to overcome."
South Florida got within 20 early in the second half before Marquette pulled away for good. Blue's layup with 6:08 to play extended the Golden Eagles' lead to 62-33.
Game Notes
Marquette leads the all-time series by a 19-3 margin. The Golden Eagles won both meetings between the teams this season ... South Florida turned the ball over 19 times, leading to 28 Marquette points.
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