Marquette 63, Southern 56: Davante Gardner scored 25 points as the Golden Eagles held off the visiting Jaguars in a sloppy season-opening game for both teams.

Todd Mayo had 20 points and two steals while Jamil Wilson added 10 points and seven rebounds for Marquette, which won despite shooting 13-for-36. No other player on the Golden Eagles had more than two points and the team committed 14 turnovers.

SWAC preseason player of the year Malcolm Miller led Southern with 14 points while freshman Calvin Godfrey grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds. The Jaguars committed 17 turnovers and 34 personal fouls.

Gardner, who scored 18 points in the first half, didn’t make a basket in the second half until he hit a free throw with 9:37 left in the contest. Miller started the game with 14 points but fell silent in the second half.

Marquette jumped out to a 12-2 advantage and established a 12-point lead in the first half before a 12-6 run by Southern closed the first half. The Golden Eagles made just two field goals in the first 11 minutes of the second half and allowed the Jaguars to pull within six points in the final minute of the contest after leading by as much as 14.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Southern senior G Yondarius Johnson was 3-for-5 from 3-point range and finished with 11 points. … Marquette was 33-for-53 from the free-throw line. … Gardner’s career-best is 26 points. He averaged 11.5 last season.