(Updated: Deletes “head” in 5th graph)
No. 20 Marquette 79, No. 17 Pittsburgh 69: Vander Blue scored 14 of his 19 points in the first half as the host Golden Eagles moved back into a tie atop the Big East.
Blue was held to seven points, his low this season in league play, in a loss to Georgetown on Monday, but had that many in the first four-plus minutes of this one as Marquette (18-6, 9-3) raced to a 42-29 halftime lead. Davante Gardner scored 10 of his 14 points in just over two minutes of action down the stretch.
Lamar Patterson led Pittsburgh (20-6, 8-5) with 19 points on 7-for-12 shooting. His fellow starters combined to go 8-for-25 from the floor.
The Golden Eagles shot 61.5 percent in a blistering first half and led by 17 on a Blue jumper five minutes into the second half. The Panthers closed to within 61-50 before Gardner took over, finishing his 10-point outburst with a layup with 4:21 remaining to make it 72-54.
Pittsburgh’s comeback attempt was hurt by a technical foul on coach Jamie Dixon with 6:05 to go and a flagrant foul on Patterson 35 seconds later. Patterson’s fourth 3-pointer cut it to 77-67 with 1:22 remaining, but the rally fell short.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Marquette extended the fourth-longest home winning streak in the nation to 23 games. It has won 16 straight Big East games at the Bradley Center dating to March 2, 2011. … Tray Woodall added 10 points and a game-high eight assists for Pitt. … Jamil Wilson came off the bench to produce 13 points and a team-high eight rebounds for the Golden Eagles.
