Marquette junior guard Markus Howard scored 23 of his game-high 26 points in the first half, helping the 18th-ranked Golden Eagles to their eighth consecutive win, an 84-41 rout of Southern at Milwaukee on Friday night.

Howard had a perfect first half, outscoring Southern 23-17 on his own. He made all eight of his field goal attempts, including five from 3-point range, and converted both of his free throw tries for Marquette (11-2).

Sam Hauser contributed 10 points and nine rebounds for Marquette, while his brother Joey Hauser also had nine rebounds. Jamal Cain added eight rebounds and four steals.

Southern made only 6 of 29 shots from the field (2 of 10 from beyond the arc) in the first half and finished shooting 25.9 percent (14 of 54) afield.

Howard made 9 of his 10 field goal attempts and also had three steals.

Southern (1-12) did not have a double-digit scorer until 10:08 remained in the game, when guard Sidney Umude made two free throws to give him 10 points, his team-leading total for the game.

The Golden Eagles outrebounded Southern 30-13 on their way to a 48-17 halftime lead. They won the rebounding battle 53-25 overall and also outscored the Jaguars 34-16 in the paint.

Marquette was efficient on the break from the start, outscoring Southern 30-2 in fast-break points in the game. A 25-4 run by the Golden Eagles opened a 39-14 lead with 6:02 left in the first half.

Howard scored 15 straight for Marquette during that stretch.

Southern did not make a field goal in the last 8:17 of the first half, missing its last 11 attempts.

After two more missed shots to start the second half, guard Alex Ennis ended the field goal drought by making a jumper with 16:54 left in the game. Marquette led 56-21 by that point.

Marquette begins Big East play Tuesday at St. John's, while Southern next hosts Prairie View A&M in the Southwest Athletic Conference opener on Jan. 5.

--Field Level Media