National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Marquette 78, Arizona St. 71
When: 9:00 PM ET, Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Where: BMO Harris Bradley Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Officials: # Jamie Luckie, # Terry Oglesby, # Mike Roberts
Attendance: 12736

Marquette 78, Arizona State 71: Jajuan Johnson scored a career-high 22 points as the Golden Eagles downed the visiting Sun Devils.

Indiana transfer Luke Fischer added career highs in points (19), rebounds (nine) and blocks (five) in a dazzling debut for Marquette (5-4), which was coming off a 38-point game in an 11-point loss to visiting Wisconsin on Dec. 6. The Golden Eagles, who also received 19 points from Duane Wilson and nine points and five assists from Matt Carlino, shot a season-best 57.1 percent from the field with 23 assists on 28 field goals.

Gerry Blakes scored 20 and Kodi Justice added 12 for Arizona State (6-4), which is 0-2 in true road games. The Sun Devils, who also received eight points and 10 rebounds from Eric Jacobsen, shot 38.7 percent and had 16 turnovers.

Marquette took a 43-32 advantage into the second half and the lead grew to 55-35 as Arizona State missed its first 10 shots during the opening 7:30. The Sun Devils never got closer than seven points down the stretch.

Arizona State pulled within 21-19 on Blakes’ trey with a little less than nine minutes to play in the opening half, but Marquette reeled off an 18-5 run over the next 5:30 and took the 11-point lead into the break. The Golden Eagles had a 28-14 first-half scoring advantage in the paint, thanks largely to Fischer, who was 5-of-6 from the field with 10 points, seven rebounds and four blocks in the opening 20 minutes.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Marquette’s opponents are averaging 16.3 turnovers per game. … UNLV transfer Savon Goodman had seven points off the bench before fouling out late in his Arizona State debut. … It was the second loss at the Bradley Center in nine months for the Sun Devils, which fell to Texas 87-85 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in March.

Top Game Performances
 
Arizona St.   Marquette
Gerry Blakes 20 Scoring JaJuan Johnson 22
Tra Holder 5 Assists Juan Anderson 7
Eric Jacobsen 10 Rebounds Luke Fischer 9
Gerry Blakes 4 Free Throws Made Duane Wilson 9
Tra Holder 2 Steals JaJuan Johnson 3
Chance Murray 1 Blocks Luke Fischer 5
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Arizona St. 71 38.7 8-21 15-20 14 30 1 8 16
Marquette 78 57.1 1-6 21-32 23 29 6 11 13