Howard guides Marquette by Northern Illinois

[December 19, 2017]  Markus Howard scored 26 points and Sam Hauser added 21 as Marquette beat Northern Illinois 79-70 Monday night at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.

Howard and Hauser combined for seven 3-pointers, but the Golden Eagles (8-3) had a rare off-night from distance, making just 9 of 30 attempts. Marquette shot 42.4 percent from the floor overall.

Eugene German led the Huskies (6-5) with 26 points, hitting 9 of 18 shots and sinking a pair of 3-pointers.

Northern Illinois shot 38.2 percent overall and made 3 of 10 3-point attempts.

A 13-4 run to close the first half sent Marquette into the locker room with a 42-36 lead despite shooting 43.2 percent (16 of 37) from the field and 5 of 12 from beyond the arc.

The Huskies shot only 40 percent overall in the half and were 2 of 7 from distance but made up the difference at the free-throw line, where they hit 10 in 15 tries while the Golden Eagles made just eight trips, hitting five.

German scored 14 in the opening half but was held to just a pair of free throws after sinking a jumper with 11:15 to play. The Huskies went cold as a team from that point, missing eight consecutive shots before Dante Thorpe's layup with 4:12 remaining.

By then, the Golden Eagles broke the game wide open and took a 77-63 lead when Hauser knocked down a jumper with 3:24 to play.

Northern Illinois managed to cut the deficit to nine with 55 seconds left but couldn't get any closer.

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