Marquette returns strong after layoff
Wesley Matthews just wanted to play somebody -- anybody -- after Marquette's long layoff.
Matthews scored 12 points, and Lazar Hayward added 12 points and 7 rebounds to lead No. 10 Marquette to an 82-51 victory over Sacramento State on Saturday in Milwaukee.
After playing one game in 14 days and twice since a Nov. 21 loss to Duke in the finals of the Maui Invitational, the Golden Eagles didn't show any letdown following an emotional 81-76 victory over Wisconsin the week before.
"After three weeks straight with just one game in between, that's not cool," Matthews said. "We were just excited to get on the court again and play against somebody else."
Marquette (7-1) opened with a 14-0 run against the Hornets, the first opponent in a five-game home stretch that includes four guaranteed games before the Golden Eagles open Big East play against Providence.
"They've had a long week. It's been like football -- we've had three straight weeks, three games, that's a tough deal," Marquette coach Tom Crean said. "To come out and play with that kind of intensity … I'm proud of them."
Sacramento State (2-8) lost its 13th straight road game because it had no answer for Marquette's balanced scoring, which included 13 points from Jerel McNeal, 12 points from Ousmane Barro and 10 points from Maurice Acker.
Kansas 88, Ohio 51: Brandon Rush drained his first three 3-pointers and helped Mario Chalmers spark a 19-0 run in the opening minutes, and No. 3 Kansas (10-0) swamped Ohio (6-3) in its inaugural appearance at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo.
Rush, who'd been coming off the bench and easing back into action following knee surgery, made his first start and cooled off after his hot start but still wound up with 13 points. In addition, guard Sherron Collins made his second appearance after missing six games while healing a stress fracture in his foot, and had 17 points on 7-for-9 shooting. Darrell Arthur had 14 points as the Jayhawks went to 10-0 for the 11th time in school history.