March 4, 2026; Providence, Rhode Island, USA; Marquette Golden Eagles forward Royce Parham (13) hangs on the rim after dunking the ball in the first half against the Providence Friars at Amica Mutual Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Image Freshman Adrien Stevens scored a career-high 21 points to lead Marquette to a dominant 78-56 win over Providence on Wednesday night.
Nigel James Jr. added 20 points for Marquette (11-19, 6-13 Big East), while Royce Parham and Tre Norman each had nine points. The Golden Eagles won their final two road games of the season after losing each of their first 12 away games at home.
James had a team-high seven rebounds and Stevens had four steals.
Boo birds often came out of the Providence Senior Night crowd for a Friars team whose three-game winning streak came to an end.
Jaylin Sellers led the Friars (14-16, 7-12 Big East) with 18 points. Providence committed 19 turnovers and finished with 29 points on just 30.9% from the floor, including 7-for-30 (23.3%) from deep.
Ryan Mela added 17 points and eight rebounds for Providence, while Oswin Erhunmwunse also pulled down eight boards.
Marquette jumped out to an early lead and suffocated Providence with a defensive pressure that hasn’t been there much this season.
The Golden Eagles didn’t allow a field goal in nearly 10 minutes, going up 28-10 after falling behind 14-1.
Turnovers were the biggest factor as Marquette forced a whopping 13 Friars giveaways in the first half, resulting in 20 points.
But Marquette couldn’t maintain that momentum throughout the first half, suffering a field goal drought that lasted more than four minutes. Providence cut the deficit to 37-23 heading into halftime.
Marquette’s offense came back to life at the start of the second half. The Golden Eagles shot 6-of-7 from the floor, including two 3-pointers from Stevens and one from James, to take a 52-29 lead.
The Golden Eagles have won six straight against the Friars, sweeping the regular season series for the second straight year.
–Field level media
