Marquette

Laura Kurz scored 17 points and Lisa Karcic added 10 as Villanova defeated host Marquette, 46-45, in a women's Big East game last night. Villanova (16-8, 8-2), which has won seven straight conference games, held off Marquette (13-11, 4-6)), which trailed 45-32 with 6:06 left in the game.

PHOENIX - Bradley Beal scored 21 points to lead Florida to a 68-58 win over Marquette in a West Regional semifinal last night. The win sets up an Elite Eight matchup of Florida coach Billy Donovan against Louisville's Rick Pitino tomorrow. The seventh-seeded Gators (26-10), who led 36-30, at the half, were also led by Erving Walker and Kenny Boynton, who had 11 points each. Erik Murphy pulled down 10 rebounds. Third-seeded Marquette (27-8) was led by Jae Crowder, (15 points)

Which parties deserve the largest chunks of blame is very much up for debate, but this is not: Devonte' "DJ" Newbill is no longer bound for Marquette to play basketball. According to Stan Laws, who coached Newbill through most of his senior season last winter at Strawberry Mansion High, a member of Marquette's coaching staff said the school was cutting ties with the 6-4 guard, a first-team Daily News All-City honoree, in a Tuesday phone call. Newbill signed a national letter of intent in April.

Mike Deane, who coached Siena to third place in this year's NIT, was named the new coach at Marquette yesterday. "People said it would be tough for me to follow in the footsteps of Al McGuire and Kevin O'Neill, but those are the reasons I wanted to come here," Deane said at a news conference. "I see Marquette as a gigantic step forward professionally for me. " McGuire coached Marquette to the NCAA championship in 1977. O'Neill rejuvenated the program in his five seasons and took the Warriors to two straight NCAA tournaments before leaving this week to take the head coaching job at Tennessee.

Jerel McNeal scored a career-high 28 points and No. 25 Marquette defeated No. 14 Notre Dame, 89-79, last night in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden in New York. The sixth-seeded Golden Eagles (24-8) will play seventh-seeded Pittsburgh in the semifinals tonight. Marquette was 0-2 in its only two previous quarterfinal appearances in the tournament and its first win in that round came at the expense of the conference player and coach of the year, Notre Dame's Luke Harangody and Mike Brey.

Marquette picked assistant coach Brent "Buzz" Williams yesterday to replace Tom Crean, who left last week to become coach at Indiana. Assistant athletic director Scott Kuykendall said the university scheduled a news conference for today to introduce Williams as the new head coach. Williams led Marquette's recruiting efforts as an assistant to Crean last season. He joined Crean's staff last July after a year as head coach at the University of New Orleans. Before that, Williams was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for two seasons at Texas A & M under coach Billy Gillispie.

Marquette wasn't expected to do much with five freshmen and only three players returning from its Final Four run in 2003. But freshman Steve Novak set a record for most points scored in his Big East debut. Novak had career highs of 41 points and 16 rebounds and host Marquette won its first Big East game with a 94-79 upset of No. 2 Connecticut last night. The 6-10 Novak broke the record of 30 shared by Notre Dame's Troy Murphy in 1998 and Georgetown's Allen Iverson in 1994.

Ralston Turner's clutch long-range shooting and LSU's hustling defense put an end to No. 10 Marquette's unbeaten run. Turner scored 22 points and LSU extended its winning streak to five games while handing visiting Marquette its first loss of the season, 67-59, last night. Turner hit two clutch three-pointers in the final 4 minutes to give the Tigers the lead and added two free throws to make it 60-54 with 1:19 to go. Justin Hamilton then closed out a 13-point performance by making seven free throws in the last 53 seconds to ensure the Tigers (8-3)

NEW YORK - Marquette seems to be getting the hang of winning close games. The Golden Eagles won for the sixth time in their last seven games decided by three points or fewer, and improved to 7-5 in such games in the conference this season, by defeating St. John's, 57-55, yesterday in the second round of the Big East tournament at Madison Square Garden. Continuing to solidify their NCAA resume, the Golden Eagles (21-10), seeded fifth, advanced to play No. 4 seed and 10th-ranked Villanova in today's quarterfinals.

The NCAA tournament is all about 68 teams trying to be the one that cuts the nets down as the clock strikes midnight following the championship game. But for the Big East Conference, it's a chance to prove to the world that, although it's changing teams faster than clouds change patterns in the sky, it remains the nation's best basketball league. In Thursday night's regional semifinals in Boston and Phoenix, the Big East saw two representatives knock off teams from the Big Ten, the conference which spent a lot of the regular season making a great case for why it was the No. 1 league.

PHOENIX - Bradley Beal scored 21 points to lead Florida to a 68-58 win over Marquette in a West Regional semifinal last night. The win sets up an Elite Eight matchup of Florida coach Billy Donovan against Louisville's Rick Pitino tomorrow. The seventh-seeded Gators (26-10), who led 36-30, at the half, were also led by Erving Walker and Kenny Boynton, who had 11 points each. Erik Murphy pulled down 10 rebounds. Third-seeded Marquette (27-8) was led by Jae Crowder, (15 points)

One-liners on each of the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16 games: THURSDAY East Region Syracuse vs. Wisconsin: Local kid Rakeem Christmas getting serious run for 'Cuse lately. Ohio State vs. Cincinnati: Mark it down. The winner of this game wins the region. West Region Michigan State vs. Louisville: How did Rick Pitino win a Big East Tournament and get to the Sweet 16 with this crew? Marquette vs. Florida: Somebody tell the Marquette coach not to dress in the dark anymore.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Marquette has perfected the art of the comeback. Down late yet again, Jae Crowder scored six points during a decisive 14-2 run, and the third-seeded Golden Eagles pulled away from Murray State for a 62-53 victory Saturday that sends the Golden Eagles into next weekend's West Regional semifinals. Crowder finished with 17 points, 12 in the second half, and also had 13 rebounds. Darius Johnson-Odom also had 17 for Marquette (27-7). "When you're playing a team like Murray State, they're going to keep throwing punches and throwing punches, and you have to find a way to slow them down," Johnson-Odom said.

WHEN THE time came for BYU to make a run, Marquette was ready. Darius Johnson-Odom and Jae Crowder came up with big shots every time the Cougars threatened, and the Golden Eagles withstood another furious second-half rally by BYU for an 88-68 victory in the NCAA Tournament second-round West Regional game yesterday in Louisville, Ky. Crowder finished with 25 points and 16 rebounds, while Johnson-Odom scored 12 of his 20 points in the second half....

Marquette was simply too big and too strong for BYU to overcome Thursday at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky. Jae Crowder finished with 25 points and 16 rebounds and Darius Johnson-Odom had 12 of his 20 points in the second half as the Golden Eagles withstood another furious BYU rally for an 88-68 victory. Brandon Davies had 19 points and 12 rebounds for the 14th-seeded BYU (26-9), who looked for a brief while as if they might have a chance to top their historic comeback against Iona in the First Four on Tuesday night, but the Cougars were outmuscled and will have to settle for a place in the history books.

The West bracket appears to be the most wide-open in the field with four conference tournament champions - top seed Michigan State, No. 2 Missouri, No. 4 Louisville, No. 5 New Mexico - right up there at the top. It doesn't stop there. The third seed, Marquette, boasted the Big East's best 1-2 punch in forward Jae Crowder and guard Darius Johnson-Odom and is ready to forget a sloppy performance that knocked them out of the conference tournament in one night. Then you have the No. 6 seed, Murray State, which went through the season with a 30-1 record amid cries that it played soft competition.

CINCINNATI COACH Mick Cronin took the courtside microphone and thanked the crowd for its raucous support on Senior Night and all season long. "We'll see you in New York," Cronin said, referring to the Big East Tournament. "Then in the NCAA Tournament. " With a double-digit win last night, the Bearcats are a little closer to the field of 68. JaQuon Parker scored a career-high 28 points, leading Cincinnati to a 72-61 victory over No. 8 Marquette that embellished the Bearcats' NCAA Tournament chances.

Jordan Morgan had 11 points and 11 rebounds, playing all-American forward Jared Sullinger to a virtual stalemate as No. 17 Michigan beat No. 6 Ohio State, 56-51, on Saturday night to remain unbeaten at home. Trey Burke scored 17 points and Tim Hardaway Jr. added 13 for the Wolverines (20-7, 10-4 Big Ten), who improved to 15-0 at the Crisler Center by snapping a six-game losing streak to their longtime rivals. Deshaun Thomas had 25 points and 14 rebounds for Ohio State (22-5, 10-4)

PITTSBURGH - In Villanova's previous game, 8 days earlier in South Philly, the Wildcats couldn't hold an 18-point, first-half lead against nationally ranked Marquette. Yesterday afternoon at the Petersen Events Center, they found themselves trailing by just as much with 16 1/2 minutes remaining against revitalized Pitt. So, of course, it made perfect sense that with 35 seconds to go, Maalik Wayns was launching a three-pointer from the right wing that somehow would have tied things.