Myles Powell scored 23 points as host Seton Hall won the battle of the top two players in the Big East Conference with a 69-55 victory Saturday over Marquette and guard Markus Howard.

Powell rallied Seton Hall from an 11-point first-half deficit and his own slow start to help the Pirates (12-4, 4-0) to their sixth consecutive victory. The senior guard didn't score his first points in the game until Howard had 11, but Seton Hall still was able to improve to 7-1 at home.

Howard scored 27 points as the Golden Eagles (11-5, 1-3) continued to stumble in conference play, with their only victory over then-No. 10 Villanova at home on Jan. 4. The Golden Eagles are also 1-3 overall in true road games.

Howard entered as the top scorer in the Big East, as well as the nation, with 26.8 per game. Powell entered as the second-best scorer in the conference, and 14th in the nation, at 21.4 points per game.

During the opening 11 minutes of the game, it was all Marquette as the Golden Eagles took a 26-15 lead. Seton Hall's turnaround began with a Powell jumper, and the Pirates finished the half on a 25-11 run for a 40-37 advantage.

Seton Hall led 45-37 in the second half before Marquette began its own rally, going on a run to tie the score 45-45 with just over 14 minutes remaining. Seton Hall had an answer, scoring the next nine points to lead 54-45, with Anthony Nelson scoring four points in the stretch.

After making a layup with 6:41 remaining to close Marquette's deficit to 58-50, Howard didn't make another field goal, and didn't score again until hitting two free throws with 2:22 left, with Seton Hall well in control by then.

Romaro Gill scored 10 points for Seton Hall, while Powell was 8 of 22 from the field but just 2 of 11 from 3-point range. The Pirates went 5 of 21 (23.8 percent) from distance as a team.

Brendan Bailey had 11 rebounds for Marquette, while Howard was 8 of 22 from the field and 4 of 11 from 3-point range. Seton Hall shot 44.6 percent from the field while Marquette shot 32.7 percent.

--Field Level Media