Steve Wojciechowski
Coming off a 28-point home loss to Iowa last week, the Marquette Golden Eagles rebounded for a 81-80 win over 22nd-ranked L-S-U in the semifinals of the FanDuel Legends Classic at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Monday night.
The win is the first over a ranked opponent under second-year head coach Steve Wojciechowski.
Marquette (22-2) opened the game on a ten-to-nothing run and didn’t trail until L-S-U (3-1) took the lead with 21.5 seconds left.
The Golden Eagles, who had committed 22 turnovers for the game, let a nine-point lead with 4:45 remaining slip away.
With 13.8 seconds left, JuJuan Johnson drove into the lane and drew a foul. He knocked down both free throws with 10.8 seconds left to put the Golden Eagles back on top. L-S-U’s final three-point try was off the mark and Marquette pulled out the win.
Tigers freshman Ben Simmons had 21 points, 20 rebounds and seven assists to lead all scorers in the game.
Luke Fischer had 19 points and eight rebounds to lead Marquette. Freshman Henry Ellenson sat most of the first half with foul trouble as more than 50 NBA scouts and front office personnel looked on. Ellenson finished with 16 points and eleven rebounds before fouling out.