Jacksonville made a game of it early, but then just couldn't keep up with Marquette the rest of the way.
Jae Crowder scored a season-high 27 points, leading No. 16 Marquette to an 88-56 victory over the Dolphins on Monday night.
Jacksonville coach Cliff Warren was not pleased with the defensive effort on Crowder.
''We left him open too many times,'' Warren said. ''He's a good shooter. We gave him some good looks and he made them.''
Delwan Graham, a preseason Atlantic Sun all-conference pick, showed signs of coming out of his recent scoring slump. The 6-7 senior forward came in averaging 6.7 points on 37.5 percent shooting in his previous three games. Against Marquette, he went 5 for 11 from the floor and scored nine of his team-high 13 points in the second half.
Tevin Galvin, who missed the first four games with a leg injury, had four points and four rebounds in his season debut at Florida on Friday. Against the Golden Eagles, he scored 10 points in 32 minutes.
Darius Johnson-Odom scored 11 of his 19 points in the first half for the Golden Eagles (6-0) and helped steady a shaky offense.
The Dolphins made four 3s to take a one-point lead with just under 6 minutes to play, but Marquette took over and pulled away for an easy win.
''We did a good job of getting the ball inside, but we didn't finish plays,'' Warren said. ''When we finish plays, we setup the press, it's a different game. You have to give credit to Marquette. They have a good team. You can't give them good looks because they will make shots - like they did in the second half.''
Letting Jacksonville hang around for the first 15 minutes wasn't due to fatigue or rust, just poor defense, according to Crowder.
''We felt like we just had to tighten up a few things defensively,'' he said. ''We knew they were going to come into the game and hit a lot of 3s. We felt defensively we had to take that away.''
The Dolphins were 6 for 14 on 3s in the first half to keep the game close.
''Sixty percent of their points in the first half came from 3s,'' Marquette head coach Buzz Williams said. ''That's not a good combination. I thought we were a lot better in the second half.''
After the break, Marquette limited the Dolphins to 3 for 12 on 3s.
''Make them drive it,'' Crowder said of the defensive strategy. ''One through five can shoot 3s. So we had to make them drive.''
Chris Davis was 4 for 5 from three-point range and finished with 12 points for the Dolphins (2-4), who played a ranked opponent for the second consecutive game. Jacksonville lost 107-62 at No. 10 Florida on Friday.
Marquette, playing for the first time since winning the Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands last Monday, improved to its second 6-0 start in three seasons. The Golden Eagles also gained some momentum for Saturday's key matchup with intrastate rival No. 9 Wisconsin.
''One, it's our first big test with Wisconsin,'' Crowder said. ''I feel like we're ready. I think we're a step ahead of where we were last year going into this game. We'll be ready for it.''
The Dolphins went to the line for the first time early in the second half when Graham was fouled on a drive to the hoop. He converted the three-point play to cut Marquette's lead to 10.
Crowder scored 10 points during a 29-9 run that bridged halftime and helped turn a close game into a blowout. His 3-pointer and three-point play pushed Marquette's lead to 59-37 with 13:21 left.
Jacksonville kept the game close despite 10 turnovers and shooting 36.7 percent from the floor. Without Johnson-Odom's leadership and scoring, it might have been worse.
Johnson-Odom's early five points helped the Golden Eagles build a seven-point margin, but the scrappy Dolphins fought back on four 3-pointers, including one from Davis that gave Jacksonville a one-point lead with less than 6 minutes to go in the first half.
Johnson-Odom took over and gave Marquette a 37-28 lead at the half.
Freshman Todd Mayo added a career-high 14 points for Marquette.
Vander Blue had just three points for Marquette, but it was his work away from the ball that made a real contribution. He set a career high with seven assists and tied a career highs with nine rebounds and four steals.
