Overcoming a nine-point halftime deficit, Marquette knocked off Creighton 89-84 Monday at the CHI Health Center in the conference opener for both teams.

Trailing 44-35 at the break, the Golden Eagles (5-2) opened the second half with a 21-10 run to grab the lead.  They made 7-of-9 from 3-point range in the second half.  Guard D.J. Carton finished with a career-high 20 points.  Backcourt partner Koby McEwen contributed 18 points.  Greg Elliott and freshman Dawson Garcia each added 14 points.  Garcia pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.  Marquette won the rebounding battle 42-27.

Creighton (4-2), ranked ninth in both national polls, was led by Mitch Ballock’s 26 points, which included 8-of-14 from 3-point range.  Denzel Mahoney added 21 points.    
    
BIG EAST teams are idle on Tuesday.  The lone game set for Wednesday is Butler at Villanova at 7 p.m. ET on FS1.  The Bulldogs (1-0) will be playing only their second game of the season, while Villanova (5-1, 1-0), ranked seventh in the AP poll and sixth in USA Today, will be playing its first home contest.    

On Monday night, the BIG EAST announced that the next two DePaul games will be postponed due to COVID issues within the Blue Demons’ program.  The postponed games are Thursday at Providence and Monday, Dec. 21, at Butler.  Because of Thursday’s postponement, the tip time of Creighton at St. John’s has been moved from 5 to 7 p.m. ET.

BIG EAST teams own an overall record of 37-12 (.755) in non-conference play.