COL BKB: Marquette 74, St. John's 45

NEW YORK, March 11 (UPI) -- No. 21 Marquette scored the game's first eight points Wednesday on the way to a 74-45 rout of St. John's in the second round of the Big East Tournament.

Later in the first half, the winners led, 31-8, after a 16-0 run and held a double-digit lead from that point.

Wesley Matthews led the victory at New York's Madison Square Garden with 20 points, nine rebounds, and three assists.

Lazar Hayward had 17 points and nine rebounds, while both Jerel McNeal and Jimmy Butler each scored 11 points for the fifth-seeded Golden Eagles (24-8), who will play No. 4 Villanova in the quarterfinals Thursday.

They had lost four straight since guard Dominic James suffered a career-ending broken left foot in the Feb. 25 93-82 loss to Connecticut.

Paris Horne led St. John's with 15 points.

D.J. Kennedy scored 11, but in the end no other player scored in double figures for the Red Storm (16-17), who had beaten Georgetown, 64-59, in the first round.