Davante Gardner scored a career-high 26 points to lead 22nd ranked Marquette to a 74-71 win over 12th ranked Syracuse on Monday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.
Gardner played just 11 minutes in Marquette’s loss at Villanova on Saturday because coach Buzz Williams said he was playing poorly. Gardner did an about-face last night, hitting all seven of his shots and converting 12 of his 13 free throw attempts.
Marquette extended it’s home court win streak to 24-straight games with the victory. The Golden Eagles attempted 35 free throws while the Orange had just 7.
AUDIO: Buzz Williams on 24-game home court win streak :16
The Golden Eagles (20-7, 11-4) remain in second place in the Big East with three games left to play.
The Orange (22-6, 10-5) fell into a fourth-place tie with Notre Dame.
Marquette has won at least 20 games in each of Williams’ five seasons as head coach.