Marquette pulled away in the second half to post 76-57 win over visiting Butler Sunday afternoon at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.

The Golden Eagles hit 11 three-pointers and used a 28-8 advantage in free throw attempts to take the win.

Marquette, receiving votes in both national polls this week, improves to 17-6 (7-4 BIG EAST) with its third straight win. With the loss, the 19^th-ranked Bulldogs fall to 18-6 overall and 6-5 in BIG EAST play.

"If you don't play well in the BIG EAST, you don't even give yourself a chance at a win," said Butler coach LaVall Jordan. "Even if you do play well, it doesn't guarantee you anything, but that's the only way to give yourself a chance. We got downhill and got to the rim, but we didn't play through that contact well enough I guess."

Three consecutive three-pointers gave Marquette a 62-45 advantage with 6:09 to play after the Bulldogs had cut the lead to eight for the first time in the second half. That stretch proved to be the difference.

Markus Howard led the Golden Eagles with 17 points, while Brendan Bailey and Koby McEwen each scored 16. Bailey and McEwen combined to shoot 8-of-11 from behind the arc, and had all three of the triples during that key 9-0 run.

Kamar Baldwin, after scoring 31 in the overtime win over Marquette Jan. 24 at Hinkle Fieldhouse, led the Bulldogs with 23 points on 10-of-16 shooting. Bryce Nze, playing near his hometown of Hartland, Wis., for the first time as a Bulldog, had 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Aaron Thompson had seven assists.

Butler finished the first half by hitting on two of its last 15 attempts from the field. That allowed Marquette to turn a two-point game into a 34-26 halftime advantage.

Butler shot only 38 percent from the field with Baldwin and Nze combining for 16 of the team's 23 makes. Marquette went 11-of-24 from three-point range (46 percent) and 43 percent overall. The Golden Eagles made 21 of their 28 attempts from the free throw line.  

The Bulldogs return to Hinkle Fieldhouse for their next two games, beginning with a Wednesday night tip against Xavier. A limited number of tickets remain available for that contest. Saturday's home game with Georgetown is sold out.