Marquette’s Markus Howard drops great Paul Pierce reference during 40-point half

Markus Howard’s performance on Friday night was the truth in more ways than one.

The Marquette guard exploded for 45 points in a 103-85 win over Buffalo, including dropping an unfathomable 40 points in the second half alone. Howard also added five rebounds and four assists while shooting 12-for-25 from the field, 9-for-13 from three, and a perfect 12-for-12 from the line.

A second half for the ages… Markus Howard's 40-point 2H is worth another look @MarquetteMBB @BIGEASTMBB pic.twitter.com/618OYl2iCR

— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) December 22, 2018

The loss was Buffalo’s first of the season, and Howard was well aware of it. After one of those buckets, the junior went full Paul Pierce and hit the crowd with the “I called game” line, per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Ben Steele.

Think Markus just yelled "I called game" to the crowd just now. Cold blooded. #mubb

— Ben Steele (@BenSteeleMJS) December 22, 2018

Howard entered play on Friday averaging a team-high 23.2 points per game to help lead Marquette to the No. 20 ranking in the country. There’s a reason why he made our list of college basketball’s biggest under-the-radar stars at the start of the year, but after this eruption against Buffalo, Howard may not be under the radar for much longer.