The competition will get much tougher for both Marquette and Indiana when they square off in a neutral-site nonconference game on Sunday afternoon in Chicago.Marquette improved to 2-0 with a 100-82 victory over Southern at home Wednesday, giving Shaka Smart his 100th win as coach of the Golden Eagles.Indiana won its season opener Wednesday, routing Alabama A&M 98-51 in the first game under head coach Darien DeVries, hired away from West Virginia.Chase Ross had 23 points to pace Marquette’s balanced attack against Southern. Sean Jones, Zaide Lowery and Caedin Hamilton each had 12 points, and Ben Gold collected 10 points and nine rebounds in 21 minutes.Marquette, which led 43-37 at the half, gained control with a 14-2 run midway through the second half to push the lead to 75-54.The Golden Eagles shot 50 percent (35 of 70), including 14 of 36 from 3-point range. Southern and Marquette were even on the boards with 39 apiece.”We were not as good defensively tonight as we were on Monday,” Smart said. “A lot of factors behind that. Southern deserves some credit.”Ross is averaging a team-best 19 points per game, shooting 60% from the floor.
