D.J. Carton scored a career-high 20 points, and Greg Elliott and Dawson Garcia combined for 23 of their 28 in the second half to lead Marquette past No. 9 Creighton 89-84 on Monday night.
The Golden Eagles (5-2, 1-0 Big East) came back from a 12-point deficit to take a lead and then held off a couple of late comeback bids by the Bluejays (4-2, 0-1).
Mitch Ballock went 8 of 13 on 3-pointers and had a season-high 26 points to lead Creighton. Denzel Mahoney added 21 points
The Golden Eagles used a 19-7 spurt to create a 75-63 cushion with 5 1/2 minutes left. The Bluejays ran off nine straight points to get to 76-75.
Koby McEwen made two free throws for an 85-80 lead with 30 seconds left.
Creighton struggled at the free throw line in the second half, making only 11 of 22.
No. 19 RUTGERS 74, MARYLAND 60
Ron Harper Jr. scored 19 of his 27 points in the second half, and Rutgers won its Big Ten opener for the first time in school history.
The Scarlet Knights (5-0, 1-0) broke open a tight game with a 10-0 run that made it 50-38 with 11:49 left. Myles Johnson started and ended the spree with dunks, and Harper contributed a 3-pointer.
After Donta Scott stemmed the surge with a long-range jumper, Harper connected from behind the arc and Jacob Young scored in the lane to give the Scarlet Knights a 14-point cushion.
This is the first time since 1934-35 that Rutgers has opened with five straight double-digit victories.
Scott scored 20 and Eric Ayala added 12 for Maryland (4-2, 0-1), which finished in a tie atop the conference last season.
Rutgers was winless in Big Ten openers since joining the league in 2014 and was 16-73 in conference play before going 11-9 last season.