Jimmy Butler scored 27 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in his first start at Marquette, leading the Golden Eagles to an 85-62 victory over Centenary on Friday night.
Marquette (1-0), playing its first regular-season game in five years without Jerel McNeal, Wes Matthews and Dominic James on the team, scored the first seven points of the second half to open a 47-29 lead on Lazar Hayward's layin with 16:28 left. The Golden Eagles held a double-digit lead the rest of the game.
David Perez led Centenary (0-1) with 25 points in the school's first game since it announced over the summer it would leave the Summit League and begin the transition to NCAA Division III in time for the 2011-12 season.
Butler, a 6-foot-6 junior guard/forward, eclipsed his previous high of 19 points set March 12 against Villanova.
Marquette (1-0), playing its first regular-season game in five years without Jerel McNeal, Wes Matthews and Dominic James on the team, scored the first seven points of the second half to open a 47-29 lead on Lazar Hayward's layin with 16:28 left. The Golden Eagles held a double-digit lead the rest of the game.
David Perez led Centenary (0-1) with 25 points in the school's first game since it announced over the summer it would leave the Summit League and begin the transition to NCAA Division III in time for the 2011-12 season.
Butler, a 6-foot-6 junior guard/forward, eclipsed his previous high of 19 points set March 12 against Villanova.
