Marquette storms past Western Kentucky in March Madness ...

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NCAA Men’s Basketball: Marquette Golden Eagles react on Selection Sunday

Marquette Golden Eagles will take on the Western Kentucky University Hilltoppers in Indianapolis in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament.

INDIANAPOLIS - The Marquette men's basketball team flirted with disaster on Friday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

The second-seeded Golden Eagles bounced back from a disjointed first-half performance to beat 15th-seeded Western Kentucky, 87-69, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

MU (26-9) will play Sunday against Colorado.

Kam Jones scored 28 points and Tyler Kolek had 18 points and 11 assists in his first game since Feb. 28 for the Golden Eagles.

The first half was not ideal for MU.

After a slow start, it looked like the Golden Eagles might pull away when they took a 28-19 lead.

But Western Kentucky's Dontaie Allen knocked down a three-pointer, and the Hilltoppers scrapped their way back into the game. Milwaukee native Don McHenry knocked down a midrange jumper to give Western Kentucky a 32-31 lead at the 4:29 mark.

Western Kentucky took a 43-33 lead after an 18-2 run.

BOX SCORE: Marquette 87, Western Kentucky 69

Replay blog: Marquette basketball in a battle vs Western Kentucy in March Madness first round game of 2024 NCAA Tournament

MU got a runner by Ben Gold in the waning seconds to trail, 43-36, at the break.

The good news for the Golden Eagles was that Kolek looked good after missing six games with an oblique injury. He hit his first 2 three-point attempts and scored 13 points in the first half while only sitting out for a minute.

But MU only shot 5 for 19 (26.3%) on three-pointers in the opening 20 minutes, while allowing Western Kentucky to shoot 17 for 36 (47.2%) overall.

Stevie Mitchell changed the tenor of the game for MU at the start of the second half. He made a layup on MU's first possession.

Just over two minutes later, he chased down McHenry and knocked the ball away for a steal. Mitchell then drove for a three-point play that got MU within 48-46.

Mitchell blocked a shot on Western Kentucky's next possession, leading to a layup by David Joplin that tied the game.

Jones gave MU the lead on a spinning layup.

The Hilltoppers punched back and tied the game at 55-55 on a three-pointer by McHenry.

But MU's Ben Gold answered with a three of his own. Kolek then converted a three-point play to give the Golden Eagles a 61-55 advantage.

Jones got hot, sinking back-to-back triples for a 69-61 lead.

Then it was Mitchell again, putting in an offensive rebound while getting fouled. He knocked down the free throw for a 72-63 lead with six minutes remaining.