MILWAUKEE (AP) – Grambling State’s head coach Joe Price knew he’d be in for a long night against Marquette.
Chandler Thomas scored 26 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and A’Torri Shine added 17 in his first start of the season, but it wasn’t enough to keep Grambling State from losing 114-71 to No. 17 Marquette on Tuesday night. It was the 30th-straight loss for the Tigers.
”We just knew we were up against a tough team,” Price said. ”They’re very physical.”
The Tigers had 71 points, but the Golden Eagles scored 76 points in the paint, outrebounded them 56-41 and limited them to 28.6 percent shooting for the game.
”Their physicality really hurt us, but we played hard the whole game,” Price said.
Grambling State (0-2) was without sophomore Terry Rose, the Southwestern Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year who averaged 14.1 points per game last season.
”Rose is academically ineligible until the second semester,” Price said. ”We will be a better team when we get him back.”
Remond Brown scored 10 points and Chase Comier had seven assists for Grambling State.
Chris Otule scored 17 points and Steve Taylor added 16 points and 11 rebounds as Marquette (2-0) reached the century mark for the first time since a 102-77 victory over Mississippi Valley State on Dec. 21, 2010. Deonte Burton added 14 points, JuJuan Johnson 12 and Jamil Thomas, Juan Anderson and Jake Thomas each had 11 for Marquette which shot 54.9 percent for the game.
Chandler Thomas tried to find some hope despite the loss.
”The goal is always to win the game,” he said. ”They were very good, but we learned a lot.”
The lopsided victory gave the Marquette coach that rare chance to relax.
”I sat down toward the end of the night, which that happens like two minutes per year,” Williams said. ”I was like, man, I love sitting down. This is great. The whole world looks different.”
The Golden Eagles took command early and led by as much as 23 in the first half as Otule scored 13 points and Davante Gardner and Burton each added 10 for a 52-35 lead. Then Thomas hit consecutive 3s and added a layup to spark a 12-0 run that opened the second half and sealed the win.
”As soon as they fire me, I’m going to be the best assistant ever, ever,” Williams said laughing out loud. ”I just love sitting here.”
Marquette’s 114 points are the most the team has scored since a 118-60 win over Wis.-Milwaukee on January 14, 1969.
The victory extended the Golden Eagles’ home-court winning streak to 27 games, the second longest in Division I. South Dakota State leads with a 30-game mark. Marquette hopes to keep it going when they host No. 10 Ohio State on Saturday.
”The type of guys we have we can shock the world nightly,” Taylor said.
Otule had 13 points and Davante Gardner and Burton each had 10 as Marquette owned the paint on their end and controlled the boards on the other end. The Golden Eagles scored 40 points in the paint and grabbed 17 offensive rebounds and led 52-35 at the half.
Gardner, who was scoreless in the second half, muscled his way to the hoop on three layups and a tip-in in the first half.
Shine, a junior college transfer from Southern-Shreveport, scored 21 points in his debut in the 96-58 road loss to DePaul Saturday.
Junior Derrick Wilson, Marquette’s new starting point guard, had a career-high 10 assists with just one turnover.
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