Chase Ross scored 27 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the floor to lead Marquette to a 85-71 victory over Central Michigan in Milwaukee on Saturday, ending a two-game home skid.
Marquette (4-3) also got 12 points from Zaide Lowery on 5-for-8 shooting and nine points from freshman Adrian Stevens off the bench. Nigel James Jr., Ben Gold and Caedin Hamilton each added eight for the Golden Eagles, who shot 52.8% from the floor and 33.3% from 3-point range.
Central Michigan (2-4), who shot just 40.6% from the floor and 27.8% from beyond the arc, was led by Nathan Claerbaut with 14 points while Phat Phat Brooks added 12 points. Tamario Adley added 10 points but foul trouble limited him to 23 minutes.
Ross started on fire, putting eight points on the board before the first media timeout to push the Golden Eagles out in front early.
Central Michigan hung around as Marquette’s largest lead in the half was seven. A turnover at the end of the half led to an easy bucket and the Golden Eagles led 41-36 going into intermission.
Ross had 14 at the break while all nine Chippewas that saw the floor scored at least two points. The largest difference in the half was Marquette making 13 of 17 free throws while Central Michigan did not attempt a free throw.
In the second half, Marquette continued to let Central Michigan hang tough. A Ross dunk briefly put the Golden Eagles up by double-digits with nine minutes to play, but for much of the half the advantage was between five and seven points.
Ross and Gold put the game on ice with a tough finish and 3-pointer, respectively, to give Marquette a 11-point edge with a minute left.
Marquette avoided losing three consecutive nonconference games for the first time since the 1990-91 season. The Golden Eagles lost their streak of not dropping a nonconference game at home since December 2022 in the last week when they fell o Maryland and Dayton.
