Sophomore guard Mike Marra has scored a game-best 11 points off the bench to help the No. 3-seed Louisville Cardinals earn a 36-31 halftime advantage over No. 11 Marquette Golden Eagles in a 2011 Big East Tournament quarterfinal game at Madison Square Garden. The winner advances to play No. 2 Notre Dame Friday night in the semifinals (9 p.m. on ESPN).
Marquette (20-13) sprinted out to a 11-3 advantage, led by two 3-pointers from junior forward Jae Crowder, in the game's first four minutes. However, Louisville answered with a 11-2 run, capped by a Marra 3-pointer, to take a 14-13 with 12:48 to go in the first half. The Cardinals (ranked No. 14 in both college basketball polls) led by as much as 10 points, 36-26, with 1:27 remaining, but the Golden Eagles ended the half on a small 5-0 run and now trail by five heading into the locker room.
Louisville junior forward Kyle Kuric has made three 3-pointers for a nine point total. The Cardinals have shot just 39.4 percent from the floor.
Crowder has a team-best eight points for Marquette, while teammate senior Jimmy Butler has just seven. The Golden Eagles advanced to the quarterfinals by earning a first-round victory over No. 14 Providence, 87-66, and then a second-round triumph over defending tournament championships, No. 6 West Virginia Mountaineers, 67-61.