In Wednesday’s action, Marquette rode a very strong first half en route to a comfortable road victory, while Seton Hall used a late surge to win on its home court.

Marquette was ahead 41-25 by halftime in its 73-57 win at Butler.  Greg Elliott replaced Jamal Cain in the starting lineup for the Golden Eagles (10-12, 6-10 BIG EAST) and both players responded positively.  Elliott scored a career-high 17 points and Cain had his second career double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds. The Bulldogs (7-12, 6-10 BIG EAST), who played without injured Bryce Nze, got 21 points from freshman Chuck Harris and 18 from Bryce Golden.

DePaul and Seton Hall were locked in a one-point contest with less than four minutes to play before the Pirates scored the last seven points of the game and registered a 60-52 win.  The Hall’s Sandro Mamukelashvili finished with game highs of 25 points and 11 rebounds.  Jared Rhoden chipped in 17 points.  The Pirates (13-8, 10-5 BIG EAST) reached double figures in conference wins for the fifth time in the last six seasons.  The Blue Demons (3-10, 1-10 BIG EAST), who have allowed less than 70 points in each of their last four games, played without injured starters Charlie Moore and Javon Freeman-Liberty.  Pauly Paulicap had his second double-double with 15 points and 10 boards.

BIG EAST play continues on Saturday with three contests.  Connecticut plays at Villanova at 1 p.m. ET on FOX.  Seton Hall visits Georgetown at 5:30 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.  St. John’s hosts DePaul at 7:30 p.m. on FS1.

Going into the weekend, home teams own a 39-34 (.534) edge in BIG EAST play.