MILWAUKEE (AP) Theo John made Butler pay the price for focusing on Markus Howard.

Howard scored 28 points and John added 15 points and matched his career-high with 11 rebounds as No. 11 Marquette pulled away in the second half for a 79-69 victory over Butler on Wednesday night.

"Teams have to dedicate a lot to our shooting, and teams have to dedicate a lot to Markus Howard, in particular," Marquette coach Steve Wojciechowski said. "A lot of times, the second defender on Markus is the opposing team's center. So, when we got the ball out of the trap, Theo was open. To his credit, he was able to finish."