Marquette beats Seton Hall in Big East Tournament first round

Marquette Golden Eagles forward Juan Anderson, right, chest bups Marquette Golden Eagles guard JaJuan Johnson against the Seton Hall Pirates in the first round of the Big East basketball tournament at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, March 11, 2015. Photo Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke

Matt Carlino scored 26 points and Derrick Wilson had a career-high 14 assists as the Marquette Golden Eagles trounced the Seton Hall Pirates in the opening round of the Big East tournament at Madison Square Garden.

Carlino shot 8-of-12 from 3-point range for ninth-seeded Marquette (13-18), which advanced to face top-seeded and third-ranked Villanova on Thursday afternoon. Luke Fischer added 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting and pulled down seven rebounds to go with four blocks.

Meanwhile, this loss likely signaled the end of a disappointing season for eighth-seeded Seton Hall (16-15), which sat at 12-2 after a huge win against Villanova on Jan. 3 but had its season totally unravel thereafter. Isaiah Whitehead (12 points, five assists, four rebounds, four blocks) was the lone standout for the Pirates.

Marquette jumped out to an 8-0 lead and led 29-12 late in the period before settling for a 35-22 lead at intermission. The key stretch of the first half was a 14-2 run that turned a 15-10 lead into a commanding advantage, with Carlino making a pair of 3s during the decisive run.

Carlino finished with three 3-pointers in the first half while Duane Wilson added a pair as the Golden Eagles shot 56 percent from the field and made half of their 12 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes. The Pirates scored five early points in the second half but then went nearly seven minutes without a bucket as the lead swelled to 55-30.

Notes: Wilson scored 13 points and Steve Taylor Jr. pitched in 10 for Marquette, which notched back-to-back victories for the first time since the calendar turned to 2015. … Carlino has scored at least 20 points three times in the five games he has played since returning from a concussion. … Seton Hall G Sterling Gibbs, the team’s leading scorer, shot 1-of-8 en route to six points.