The Marquette Golden Eagles defeated the Providence Friars tonight 79-72. Marquette shot lights out in the 2nd half (they hit 11 of their first 14 attempts and went a ridiculous 9-11 from downtown overall) to pull away from the Friars after a back and forth first half. Jae Crowder had 18 points, while Jamil Wilson had a career high 16 points off the bench.

Wilson gave Marquette a 62-57 edge with 10:45 to play when he hit a jumper from the top and followed that with a 3 from the left corner.

After Gerard Coleman had a basket for Providence, Wilson had consecutive baskets in the lane, pushing the Golden Eagles’ lead to 66-59 with 8:02 left.

Gardner then took over the scoring. He scored in the lane, hit one free throw and a putback made it an 11-point lead with 3:51 remaining.

Bryce Cotton had 28 points to lead all scorers.

Here is the Buzz Williams and Ed Cooley press conference following the game tonight.