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Matthews lifts Marquette past Presbyterian

Dec 28, 2008 - 9:02 PM MILWAUKEE (Ticker) -- Wesley Matthews scored 12 of his 21 points in the first half Sunday as No. 25 Marquette cruised to an 84-45 rout of Presbyterian.

Lazar Hayward contributed 22 points for the Golden Eagles (11-2), who hardly had to break a sweat in their final non-conference game before they open Big East play at Villanova on Thursday.

Matthews made two 3-pointers and scored eight points in under nine minutes as Marquette raced to a 16-4 advantage. Hayward also drained a shot from the arc.

A pair of free throws by Matthews with under five minutes left in the first half pushed the advantage to 33-15. The Golden Eagles held a 40-18 bulge at intermission.

While the Golden Eagles were efficient offensively, they were even better defensively in holding the Blue Hose to 28 percent (7-of-25) shooting in the opening 20 minutes.

The Golden Eagles led by as many as 41 points in the second half.

Al'Lonzo Coleman scored 13 points and Josh Johnson 11 for Presbyterian (5-8), which was facing a ranked team for a second time this season. The Blue Hose opened the season with an 80-49 loss at Duke.