Marquette takes down No. 13 Seton Hall 84-64

MILWAUKEE -- For all the attention Marquette receives for its 3-point shooting, coach Steve Wojciechowski would rather have his team attack the rim.

Andrew Rowsey scored 31 points and set the tone early by driving the lane, and the Golden Eagles used a 16-0 run in the second half to pull away from No. 13 Seton Hall 84-64 on Tuesday night.

Sam Hauser added 14 points for the Golden Eagles (12-5, 3-2 Big East). He hit 4 of 9 from 3-point range, including a 3 with 5:25 left for a 73-55 lead.

Energized Marquette outhustled Seton Hall (14-3, 3-1) and held its own in the paint against the Pirates' dominant center, Angel Delgado (12 points, 10 rebounds). The Golden Eagles set a quick tempo to beat the Pirates on both ends of the floor.

"This may be hard for your guys to believe," Wojciechowski said after the game, "but we want to be a driving team. ... A lot of time because people have to respect our shooting, you can find space. But we talk about driving more than we talk about shooting 3s."

Seton Hall stumbled after reaching its highest ranking in the AP Top 25 poll since Jan. 2, 2001. Coach Kevin Willard's team may have expended too much energy in rallying from 11 down with less than 10 minutes left to beat Butler on the road Saturday.

"We didn't have the same pop we've been playing with for the last couple games," Willard said. "We didn't have the same quickness and the same pop."

Marquette led by eight at halftime, before Seton Hall opened with a 7-0 run to briefly get back in the game. Michael Nzei's jumper with 16:45 left got the Pirates back within 42-41.

Then the Golden Eagles took off on their 16-0 run, with nine points coming at the foul line. Rowsey scored nine points overall during the spurt.

After shooting 48 percent in the first half, the Pirates were held to 39 percent (11 of 28) after halftime.

"It was our best defensive performance of the year," Wojciechowski said.

Ismael Sanogo led Seton Hall with 14 points.

BIG PICTURE

Seton Hall: The Pirates failed to move to 4-0 in conference play for the first time since 1992-93. A team that typically outrebounded opponents by six lost the matchup on the boards 38-33. With defenders spread out to cover Marquette's shooters, the Golden Eagles hustled for rebounds and second-chance points .

"I thought we defended well for the first part of possessions well ... but then we let guys get free runs and big offensive rebounds," Willard said. "Those are killers."

Marquette: Markus Howard (23.5 points), Rowsey's partner in the high-scoring backcourt, had what's considered an off-night for him with 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting. But freshman Greg Elliott provided a spark off the bench with nine points, while center Matt Heldt was an active presence on both ends in the paint. A three-point play for Heldt with 7:46 left put Marquette up by 12. The 6-foot-10 Heldt has come a long way since arriving on campus as a freshman project two years ago. ... The Golden Eagles, one of the league's best 3-point shooting teams (41 percent), led by as much as 13 in the first half after going 5 of 15 from behind the arc.

KHADEEN DOWN

Seton Hall 6-4 guard Khadeen Carrington was held to six points on 2-of-8 shooting after coming into the night having averaged 22.4 points over his previous five games. Elliott, with a long, 6-3 frame, drew the assignment of guarding Carrington much of the night.

"My job was to keep him out of the paint and use my length when (shot) a 3," Elliott said.

STAT LINES

Marquette outscored Seton Hall 18-4 in points off turnovers. The Golden Eagles had six turnovers on the night and just one in the second half. ... Delgado, a senior, picked up his the 63rd double-double of his career and 12th over the season.

UP NEXT

Seton Hall: Hosts Georgetown on Saturday.

Marquette: Travels to Butler on Friday.

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