Marquette Golden Eagles vs Butler Bulldogs Box Score on Feb 28, 2023

Tyler Kolek scored 21 points and dished out 10 assists as No. 6 Marquette clinched the outright Big East regular-season title with a 72-56 win over Butler on Tuesday in Indianapolis.

Olivier-Maxence Prosper scored 14 points and grabbed five boards while Oso Ighodaro added 12 points and six rebounds for the Golden Eagles (24-6, 16-3 Big East), who won their fifth game in a row. Kam Jones contributed eight points despite an off shooting night, going 0-for-6 from 3-point range.

Butler (14-16, 6-13) was led by Jayden Taylor with 13 points and Jalen Thomas with 10 points and eight rebounds. Manny Bates, who missed the previous two games, added nine points as the Bulldogs took their eighth loss in 11 games.

It was a slow start for both teams in the first half as there was a stretch of more than five minutes in which neither team made a field goal. Butler in particular struggled mightily, scoring just six points in the first 11 minutes and going on a scoring drought of nearly nine minutes.

The Golden Eagles led 36-22 at the half as they went on a 7-0 run late in the period to get some separation. Marquette put up 24 of its 36 first-half points inside the paint, setting a trend for the rest of the night. The visitors finished with a 44-24 edge in inside scoring.

Marquette captured its first outright conference title since joining the Big East in 2005. The lone time the Golden Eagles won a piece of the conference crown was when they shared it with both Georgetown and Louisville in the 2012-13 season. This is also the first time in Big East history a team picked as low as ninth in the preseason poll went on to win the conference.

The 16th conference wins adds to Marquette's all-time high.

Marquette wraps up the regular season on Saturday at home against St. John's. Butler concludes the regular season the same day at No. 19 Xavier.

--Field Level Media