Howard's 26 help No. 21 Marquette hold off Seton Hall 70-66

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Markus Howard scored 26 points, Sacar Anim had 14 and No. 21 Marquette staved off a second-half rally to beat Seton Hall 70-66 on Saturday.

The Pirates trailed 40-30 at the break but took a 63-62 lead on Myles Powell's 3-pointer with 3:05 left, and a lay-in by freshman Joey Hauser put Marquette up 66-63 with 48 seconds remaining.

Quincy McKnight pulled Seton Hall within 68-66 by hitting the first of two free throws with three seconds left, but Sam Hauser was fouled on the rebound and converted both free throws at the other end to keep Marquette (14-3, 3-1 Big East) undefeated in 12 home games at the new Fiserv Forum.

Powell had 21 points, and McKnight and Sandro Mamukelashvili each had 13 for the Pirates (12-5, 3-2).

Howard scored 53 points in Marquette's 106-104 overtime win at Creighton on Wednesday. He followed with 18 points in the first half Saturday, but made just 2 of 9 shots after halftime.

The Pirates took a 52-49 lead on Taurean Thompson's lay-in with 8:34 left. Howard missed his first four shots after the break but ended Marquette's 4:23 scoreless streak with a pull-up jumper from the right side to make it 52-51.

BIG PICTURE

Seton Hall: The Pirates are concluding a challenging five-game stretch with two sets of back-to-back road games sandwiched around one at home. Seton Hall defeated Xavier, then lost at DePaul before edging Butler at home 76-75. After Marquette, the Pirates are at Providence. Last year, the Pirates went 3-2 in a similar stretch.

Marquette: The Golden Eagles are looking for more consistency on the road. Marquette was 0-2 in true road games and 1-1 in the NIT Season Tip-Off tournament before Wednesday's 106-104 overtime victory at Creighton.

UP NEXT

Seton Hall is at Providence on Tuesday.

Marquette is at Georgetown on Tuesday.