No. 25 Marquette 63, South Florida 50: Vander Blue scored 21 of his career-high 30 points in the second half as the Golden Eagles moved into a first place tie atop the Big East standings and continued their domination of the visiting Bulls.

Blue finished 13-for-20 from the floor and added six rebounds for Marquette (15-4, 6-1 Big East), which pulled into a tie with Syracuse atop the Big East by defeating South Florida (10-10, 1-7) for the 11th time in 12 meetings.

Javontae Hawkins tallied 14 points while Victor Rudd finished with 13 for the Bulls, who have dropped three straight.

The Golden Eagles held South Florida without a field goal for the first 6:54 of the second half while Blue began his scoring explosion. Blue’s fourth field goal in the first five minutes of the second half extended Marquette’s four-point halftime lead to 40-25.

The Bulls managed to trim the deficit to eight points on two occasions, but Blue and Trent Lockett combined to score the final 15 points for the Golden Eagles as they notched their 21st straight home win – the sixth-longest active streak in the country.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Marquette junior F Davante Gardner was ejected for a flagrant-two foul with 13:46 remaining after officials deemed he used excessive force when his right elbow connected with the jaw of South Florida’s Zach LeDay following a rebound. LeDay was not hurt and remained in the game. … The Bulls lost their sixth straight game to a ranked opponent and are 2-35 over their last 37 road games against Top 25 teams. … Hard-luck senior C Chris Otule, who has been injured for most of his college career with the Golden Eagles, matched a career high with four blocks.