Marquette wins without Kolek again, advances to Big East championship game

By: Darius Joshua Facebook | X

Posted: Mar 15, 2024 9:57 PM CST

NEW YORK (CBS 58) -- The No. 10 Marquette Golden Eagles followed up an overtime win over Villanova to open the Big East tournament with another hard-fought victory over Providence.

The Golden Eagles outlasted the Friars to make it to the Big East tournament finals with a 79-68 win.

Kam Jones led the way with 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. Oso Ighodaro was also in double figures with 20 points, 3 assists, and 3 rebounds followed by David Joplin with 17 points and 6 rebounds.

A 12-0 run in the first half helped the Golden Eagles gain control to the tune of 35-18. Marquette led 42-31 at the break.

In the second half, Providence pulled to as close as three with 4:35 to play in the game, 68-65. But the Golden Eagles executed down the stretch to close the game on a 11-3 run to pull out the win. Jones, Ighodaro, Stevie Mitchell, and Chase Ross combined to score the final 11 points.

Up next in the Big East championship game where Marquette will look to go back-to-back as champions.

Marquette takes on No. 2 UConn Saturday, March 16th, at 5:30p.m. CT. The Golden Eagles lost both regular season matchups against UConn during the regular season, playing one of those without Tyler Kolek.