Mitchell scores 17 as No. 15 Marquette outlasts Central Michigan 70-62
Marquette's Kam Jones drives between Central Michigan's Jakobi Heady and Cayden Vasko during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in Milwaukee. Credit: AP/Morry Gash
MILWAUKEE — Stevie Mitchell scored 17 points and No. 15 Marquette capitalized on an early 21-0 run to defeat a pesky Central Michigan team 70-62 on Monday night.
Kam Jones and Chase Ross each added 12 points for the Golden Eagles, and Ben Gold had 10. Jones also had eight assists, five rebounds and three steals.
Kyler VanderJagt had 19 points to lead Central Michigan (1-2).
The game was tied at 15 just over nine minutes in before Marquette (3-0) scored 21 straight points in a span of 3 minutes, 21 seconds. Jones had 10 points and two assists during that spurt.
Central Michigan got the margin down to five in the second half but couldn't come all the way back.
Takeaways
Central Michigan: The Chippewas committed 26 turnovers, went 12 of 19 on free-throw attempts and were on the wrong side of that 21-0 run. Yet they played hard all night and kept this game competitive.
Marquette: Although the Golden Eagles remained unbeaten, their 3-point struggles continued. Marquette was 10 of 36 from beyond the arc and has made just 29.4% of its 3-point attempts (30 of 102) thus far.
Marquette's Stevie Mitchell celebrates his three pointer during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in Milwaukee. Credit: AP/Morry Gash
Key moment
Central Michigan trailed 53-48 and had a chance to make it a one-possession game when VanderJagt got a steal to start a fast break. But he missed his driving layup attempt. Ross then hit a corner 3-pointer on the other end to make it 56-48 with 8:24 left. The lead didn't drop below six the rest of the way.
Key stats
Central Michigan outrebounded Marquette 47-26 but only had a 9-6 edge in second-chance points because the Chippewas committed so many turnovers and shot just 40.4% from the floor.
Up next
Central Michigan visits George Mason on Wednesday. Marquette is at Maryland on Friday.
