Justin Lewis scored a career-high 33 points and No. 22 Marquette earned its seventh straight Big East win by defeating host Seton Hall 73-63 on Wednesday night in Newark, N.J.
Lewis, a redshirt freshman, also had nine rebounds and a career-best six assists. He made 11 of 19 shots, including 4 of 7 from 3-point range. Lewis is the first Marquette player to score at least 30 points since Markus Howard had 30 in the 2019-20 regular-season finale at St. John’s.
Olivier-Maxence Prosper added 10 points for Marquette (15-6, 7-3 Big East).
Jamir Harris kept the game in reach for Seton Hall (12-7, 3-6) by scoring 13 of his team-leading 16 points in the second half and going 4-for-8 from 3-point range.
Jared Rhoden shook off an 0-for-8 start to finish with 14 points and nine rebounds for the Pirates. But he missed two free throws as the game wound down, which deflated the Pirates’ comeback efforts.
The Golden Eagles went on 12-0 run midway through the first half and held the Pirates without a field goal for 5:07. Seton Hall called two timeouts a minute apart as its defense struggled to get a stop.
Marquette scored 11 points off seven Seton Hall turnovers in the first half, and another late scoring spree stretched the margin to as many as 19 points before the visitors took a 38-21 halftime lead. Marquette shot 50 percent in the first half both overall and from 3-point range. Lewis had 15 points and three assists before intermission.
Seton Hall fought back early in the second half, with Rhoden managing a quick 7-0 run by himself. A pair of Ike Obiagu blocks set up Harris’ 3-pointer and Rhoden’s layup, pulling the Pirates within 47-39.
But the Golden Eagles responded with a 14-1 run, capped by Lewis’ dunk in transition, that gave Marquette its largest lead of the night, 61-40.
Seton Hall owned the next five-plus minutes, clawing its way back in large part at the foul line. Harris sparked a 10-0 run with two 3-pointers, and the Pirates got within 65-56 with four minutes left.