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Marquette 85, Houston 73

Posted: Friday March 08, 2002 11:05 PM

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CINCINNATI (Ticker) -- Tenth-ranked Marquette moved one step closer to locking in a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Cordell Henry scored 27 points and handed out six assists as the Golden Eagles defeated a stubborn Houston team, 85-73, to advance into the finals of the Conference USA tournament.

On Saturday, Marquette (26-5) will face Cincinnati for the title.

The Cougars trailed by as many as 20 in the second half before going on a 12-0 run. They got as close as 75-67 with two minutes left, but Marquette freshman Travis Diener worked the shot clock down and sank a driving layup with 70 seconds left.

Houston (18-14), which committed just nine turnovers playing for the third straight day, never got within single digits.

Dwyane Wade scored 18 points and Oluoma Nnamaka 11 for the Golden Eagles, who shot 57 percent (31-of-54) from the field -- including 8-of-14 from 3-point range -- and hit 15-of-17 free throws.

Louis Truscott scored 20 points and Marcus Oliver 19 for Houston, which likely earned a National Invitation Tournament bid by winning six of its last eight games before facing Marquette. The Cougars also shot well, hitting 52 percent (26-of-50) from the field.

The Golden Eagles shot a sizzling 61 percent (17-of-28) in the first half en route to a 45-34 advantage.

Trailing 19-14, Marquette went on a 12-3 run to take the lead. Henry had five points and Jon Harris four in the spurt, which David Diggs capped with a short jumper for a 26-22 advantage with 8:33 to go.

Henry, who netted 24 points in Thursday's win over Louisville, had 16 in the first half. The slight 5-10, 160-pounder averaged 14.5 points in the regular season.

Marquette used an 11-0 burst to take a 61-41 early in the second half. Wade got things started with a jumper and Henry finished the run with a bucket 5:17 into the period.

Houston fought back, as Oliver drained a 3-pointer and Truscott sank a layup, was fouled, and hit the free throw. Bryan Shelton made a basket and Oliver hit a pair from the line and a layup, slicing the deficit to 61-53 with 10:51 left, but the Cougars could get no closer.

Dominic Smith finished with 14 points and Patrick Okafor 12 and six assists for Houston.