Mike Marra scored 22 points and made a career-high six three-pointers as No. 3 seed Louisville blew out No. 11 seed Marquette, 81-56, on Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the 2011 Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Louisville (24-8) held a five-point led at halftime, 36-31, and outscored Marquette (20-14) in the second half, 45-25. The Cardinals will meet No. 2 seed Notre Dame in the semifinals on Friday evening at 9 p.m. EST.
Preston Knowles scored 15 points and had eight rebounds and seven assists for Louisville, which shot 46.9% from the field. Kyle Kuric finished with 11 points, Peyton Silva had eight points and nine assists and Chris Smith chipped in with five points and 11 rebounds for the Cardinals.
Jimmy Butler totaled 14 points to lead Marquette, which was held to 29.8% shooting from the floor. Darius Johnson-Odom had 13 points and four rebounds and Jae Crowder scored 10 points for the Golden Eagles.
Tuesday, March 8 - First Round (ESPN2/ESPN 3D)
No. 9 Connecticut def. No. 16 DePaul, 97-71
No. 13 Rutgers def. No. 12 Seton Hall, 76-70
No. 15 USF def. No. 10 Villanova, 70-69
No. 11 Marquette def. No. 14 Providence, 87-66
Wednesday, March 9 - Second Round (ESPN/ESPN 3D)
No. 9 Connecticut def. No. 8 Georgetown, 79-62
No. 5 St. John's def. No. 13 Rutgers, 65-63
No. 7 Cincinnati def. No. 15 USF, 87-61
No. 11 Marquette def. No. 6 West Virginia, 67-61
Thursday, March 10 - Quarterfinals (ESPN/ESPN 3D)
No. 9 Connecticut def. No. 1 Pittsburgh, 76-74
No. 4 Syracuse def. No. 5 St. John's, 79-73
No. 2 Notre Dame def. No. 7 Cincinnati, 89-51
No. 3 Louisville def. No. 11 Marquette, 81-56
Friday, March 11 - Semifinals (ESPN/ESPN 3D)
No. 9 Connecticut vs. No. 4 Syracuse 7 p.m.
No. 3 Louisville vs. No. 2 Notre Dame 9 p.m.
Saturday, March 12 - Championship (ESPN/ESPN 3D)
Semifinal winners 9 p.m.