Junior forward Max Strus produced 20 points and 11 rebounds while senior center Marin Maric added 13 points and 13 rebounds for DePaul (11-17, 4-12 Big East), which lost its first seven conference games in its new arena.

Senior guard Andrew Rowsey paced Marquette (16-12, 7-8) with 16 points. Sophomore guard Markus Howard entered the day as the Big East's No. 2 scorer at 21.3 points per game, but DePaul limited him to 12 points on 5-of-13 shooting.

The Blue Demons limited Marquette to 35 percent accuracy from the field in the second half and 40.7 percent for the game as they held the Golden Eagles without a point for 6:26 midway through the half and 2:32 during the final four minutes to halt the visitors' rally. DePaul also owned the boards by a 49-30 margin.

Marquette held a 35-28 lead in the opening minute of the second half before DePaul launched its attack. Maric's layup with 15:22 left gave the Blue Demons a 39-37 edge -- their first lead since 7:11 of the first half -- and DePaul's defense stayed stout.

From 16:25 to 7:15 of the second half, Rowsey's 3-pointer at 13:41 served as Marquette's only points. DePaul pushed its lead all the way to 52-40 on a pair of free throws by junior guard Eli Cain (14 points, seven rebounds) with 7:36 to go before the Golden Eagles pushed back.

Marquette cut its deficit to 5 two times -- the last on sophomore guard Markus Howard's layup with 3:47 to play -- but that's when DePaul forced Marquette to wait nearly three minutes for its next basket.

--Field Level Media