No. 25 Marquette Upsets #6 Connecticut 82-76 in College Basketball

The 25th ranked Marquette Golden Eagles hosted the sixth ranked Connecticut Huskies in a Big East Conference game on January 11th. The Huskies began the season 14-0 and were up to #2 in the polls, but then lost at Xavier and Providence before bouncing back for a win at home over Creighton. Marquette came into the contest having won seven of eight including the last four in a row.

The Golden Eagles overcame a first half 11 point deficit and outscored the Huskies 49-39 in the second half to emerge with an 82-76 victory. Oso Ighodaro led Marquette with 19 points and Olivier-Maxence Prosper added 17. Kam Jones, Marquette’s leading scorer on the year, was held scoreless until the second half, when he contributed 15 points. Freshman center Donovan Clingan led UCONN with 20 points, 10 rebounds, and five blocked shots in just 21 minutes of playing time off the bench.

It’s a tight race at the top of the Big East. Twelfth ranked Xavier and 19th ranked Providence are both 6-0 in conference play and 14-3 overall. Marquette is right behind at 6-1, 14-4, while UCONN is next at 4-3, 15-3. The Huskies are having a hard time versus the top teams in the conference on the road, but they will host all three later this season. Marquette will play at Xavier on January 15th and will play Providence at home on the 19th.