Howard leads Marquette past Louisville in NIT Season Tip-Off

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John posterizes defender with monster dunk

Marquette's Theo John rises up over the defender to throw down a powerful slam.

Nov 24, 2018, 03:47 am

NEW YORK -- Markus Howard had the go-ahead basket in overtime to cap a 21-point night and lead Marquette past Louisville 77-74 in the third-place game of the NIT Season Tip-Off on Friday night.

"I thought that this was one of the best four games that Markus has had since he's been at Marquette," Golden Eagles coach Steve Wojciechowski said. "Markus has a lot of pressure to deliver and he delivered in a big way."

The Golden Eagles (4-2) were once again led by Sam Hauser, who followed up his strong semifinal performance with 22 points. His brother Joey hit the two free throws to put Marquette up by three with 18 seconds left in OT.

Joey Hauser had a put-back off Howard's miss to tie it at 68 with 20 seconds left in regulation. Darius Perry then missed a 3-pointer from the wing, and Louisville couldn't get a couple of put-back attempts to drop before the buzzer.

Christie Cunningham scored 16 points for Louisville (4-2). Jordan Nwora had 15 points and seven rebounds, and Steven Enoch hit his first three shots and finished with 10 points.

Louisville led by as many as eight before Marquette took its first lead, 55-53, on a dunk by Theo John with 6:42 remaining. From there, it was back and forth.

"Our guys didn't quit in overtime. In the last three or four minutes, to have a couple point-blank offensive rebounds to win it and then to come to the huddle -- that can be a defeating feeling. Our guys did not let it defeat them," Louisville coach Chris Mack said. "It came down to a one-possession game after they scored first in overtime. We're a resilient team and we're going through some hard lessons."

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