MILWAUKEE, Wisc. - IUPUI trailed by just one point with 8:03 to play at No. 11/12 Marquette on Saturday night, but saw the host Golden Eagles reel off a 7-0 run to escape with a 76-68 victory.

Junior George Hill led four Jaguars in double-digits with 19 points while sophomore Billy Pettiford added a career-high 14 points and eight assists.

Marquette's (1-0) Jerel McNeal led all scorers with 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Marquette shot better than 55 percent from the floor, despite connecting on just 7-of-24 from three-point range.

"Our goal was to get them to shoot 25 threes," IUPUI head coach Ron Hunter said. "I knew if we did that, we'd have a chance.

"I'm proud of our guys. A couple of possessions here or there and it could be a different game."

After a Dominic James opened the second half with a layup to put Marquette up 41-31, IUPUI rattled off a 17-2 run to take a 48-43 lead with 13:07 to play. Hill scored seven points during the spurt, but picked up his fourth personal foul with exactly 15 minutes left.

With Hill on the bench, Marquette took the lead for good with a 12-1 run over the next three minutes. David Cubillan turned in a traditional three-point play to tie the game at 48, and stroked a long three two possessions later to extend the lead to 53-49 with 11:02 left.

"When George got his fourth (foul), we could have folded, but out kids hung in there. Our kids did a really good job of hanging in there. I would have loved to see how the game would've played out had Hill not gotten his fourth."

IUPUI (0-1) got within one on an Austin Montgomery trey, but MU's Wesley Matthews answered with a triple at the other end. The Jaguars got no closer than four the rest of the way.

Patterson added 15 points while Montgomery added 13 points and five rebounds. IUPUI's starting five accounted for 67 of the team's 68 points.

Both coaches were complimentary of the opposition afterwards.

"We played the best team on our basketball schedule, and if we play like that the rest of the way, we've got the chance to have something special," Hunter said.

"We played against a team that I think will be an NCAA Tournament team at the end of the year," Marquette head coach Tom Crean said. "I don't know their league obviously like they know it, but I know they're good.

"George Hill is a really good player, but they're far from a one man team."

IUPUI opened the game by building an early 10-4 lead by hitting four of its first six field goals, including a pair of treys. Marquette closed the first half with a 9-3 run to take a 39-31 lead to the locker room.

Patterson led IUPUI with 11 first half points while McNeal led the hosts with nine.

IUPUI shot 50 percent from the field for the game and 8-of-17 (47.1 percent) from three-point range. Hill hit 6-of-9 shots from the floor, including 3-of-4 from long distance. He also handed out four assists and collected four steals.

James added 12 points, three assists and four steals to support McNeal's effort. Lazar Hayward chipped in 11 points in 16 minutes off the bench for the victors.

The Jaguars return home on Monday night to host IU South Bend in IUPUI's regular season home opener. Tipoff is slated for 7:00 p.m., while 2007-08 Schedule Posters will be distributed before the contest