Filed under: Connecticut, Marquette, Big East
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- Darius Johnson-Odom scored nine of his 17 points in overtime Thursday night to lead Marquette to a 74-67 victory over No. 14 Connecticut, which played without coach Jim Calhoun on the bench.Jimmy Butler added 16 points for the Golden Eagles (17-11, 8-7 Big East), who tied the game at 59 with 5.3 seconds left on a drive by Johnson-Odom.
Kemba Walker led the Huskies (20-7, 8-7) with 27 points but the junior guard missed four shots and committed one turnover in the extra period.
It was the Huskies' first game since the NCAA revealed its sanctions against the program over recruiting violations. Among the penalties was a suspension of Calhoun for next season's first three Big East games. Calhoun was cited for failing to monitor and promote an atmosphere of compliance within his program.
Calhoun left the team Wednesday to be with his family in New Hampshire following the death of his sister-in-law on Monday.
This was the 15th game that associate head coach George Blaney replaced Calhoun on the bench and Connecticut's record in those games dropped to 7-8.
The loss was the third in five games for the Huskies, who beat Marquette 76-68 in their earlier meeting this season.
Nine of Marquette's 11 losses have been to ranked teams, and this looked to be No. 10 when the Huskies opened the second half with a 26-7 run to wipe out an 11-point halftime deficit.
The Golden Eagles responded with an 8-2 run that brought them to 51-49 with 6:55 to play.
There were two lead changes and three ties from there, including Johnson-Odom's drive that tied it with 5.3 seconds left.
Walker missed a spin move as the regulation buzzer sounded.
Johnson-Odom made one of two free throws and a jumper in the opening 40 seconds of the overtime to give Marquette the lead for good.
His move down low followed by a jumper made it 70-65 with 1:12 left. Donnell Beverly missed two free throws for the Huskies and Dwight Buycks hit two for Marquette to make it 72-65 with 25 seconds left.
Buycks had 13 points for Marquette, which desperately needed this win to enhance its chances for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. The Golden Eagles lost their 11 games by an average of 5.6 points with only one in double figures. This was their third win over a ranked opponent after wins over Notre Dame and Syracuse.
Alex Oriakhi had 12 points and 15 rebounds for the Huskies, who dropped to 8-2 in the XL Center, while Jeremy Lamb had eight points and 12 rebounds.
Connecticut started the game by making five of its first nine shots to take an 11-3 lead.
The shooting disappeared against Marquette's 2-3 zone for the rest of the half. While the Huskies closed the opening 20 minutes by going 5 of 23 from the field, the Golden Eagles started to make their shots - although they didn't exactly scorch the nets either, going 13 of 33 (39.4 percent).
With Butler leading the way with 13 points, Marquette took a 34-23 halftime lead. Butler capped the 31-12 run with 3 seconds left in the half by making a 15-foot jumper as the shot clock expired.
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