Xavier beats Marquette 68-65 to reach semis

NEW YORK (AP) — Justin Martin scored 19 points and Semaj Christon added 18 to lead Xavier to a 68-65 victory over Marquette on Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament.

The third-seeded Musketeers (21-11) will face second-seeded and 14th-ranked Creighton in the semifinals on Friday night. The Bluejays advanced with an 84-62 victory over DePaul.

Both Creighton and Xavier were making their debuts in the Big East tournament.

Matt Stainbrook scored down low with 4:32 to play to give Xavier a 57-51 lead and that would be the Musketeers' last field goal of the game as they went 11 of 14 from the free throw line to hold off sixth-seeded Marquette (17-15), which lost its fourth straight.

Deonte Burton had a career-high 23 points for the Golden Eagles and Todd Mayo added 21.