MILWAUKEE – Reserve forward Davante Gardner scored 17 points to lead No. 25 Marquette to a 69-62 victory over injury-depleted Seton Hall, which had just eight available players Wednesday night.
The Golden Eagles (13-3, 4-0 Big East), who moved into the AP Top 25 on Monday for the first time this season, got 12 points from Todd Mayo to win their season-high sixth straight game.
Vander Blue had 11 points and four assists as the three Golden Eagles combined to go 17 of 18 from the free throw line to claim their 19th consecutive home victory.
Aaron Cosby had 15 points for Seton Hall (12-6, 1-4), which never led in the game.
Haralds Karlis added 14 points and six rebounds for the Pirates, who dropped their season-high fourth straight game.
Seton Hall, which had only three players on the bench due to injuries, lost second-leading scorer, Eugene Teague, who fouled out with 4:03 left. Top scorer Fuquan Edwin picked up his fifth foul with 1:40 to play.
Walk-on Connor Laverty, who has played just 4 minutes all season, sat on the bench the entire game.
The Pirates' Brandon Mobley did not play because he dislocated his shoulder in a 67-55 loss to Providence on Sunday. Brian Oliver, Patrik Auda and Kevin Johnson also missed the game because they were hurt, and Freddie Wilson hasn't been with the team since transferring after the eighth game.
Nevertheless, Seton Hall cut Marquette's lead to 40-39 when Karlis made two free throws with 9:09 left to cap an 8-0 run.
Marquette increased its lead to 53-48 and then pulled away with a 7-0 run late in the second half.
Mayo and Gardner both made two free throws, and then they combined to put Seton Hall away on the next play.
Gardner passed the ball to Mayo at the left wing, and he calmly drilled a 3-pointer over the leaping Kyle Smyth for the Golden Eagles' biggest lead, 60-48, with 3:07 remaining.
The first half was not exactly entertaining, as Marquette took a 26-16 lead.
It was the fewest points allowed in any half by the Golden Eagles and the fewest scored by Seton Hall this season, as the Pirates shot just 23.5 percent (4 of 17).
Marquette opened the game by taking a 9-2 lead with 13:51 remaining. At that point, Seton Hall had more turnovers (6) than shots (5).
A 3-pointer by Karlis cut Marquette's lead to 13-12 with 8 minutes to play, but that would be the last field goal of the half for the Pirates.
Marquette scored 13 of the final 17 points of the half. A 3-pointer by Blue with 2 seconds left gave his team the 10-point margin lead.
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