MILWAUKEE - Lazar Hayward scored a career-high 23 points and No. 17 Marquette held off an upset bid by South Florida for an 62-54 victory Tuesday night. Wesley Matthews added 16 points for the Golden Eagles (15-4, 5-3 Big East), including three late 3-pointers that helped put the game away.

Marquette's Wesley Matthews reacts after making a three point basket against South Florida late in the second half of a college basketball game Tuesday Jan. 29, 2008 Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Darren Hauck)

Marquette's win came despite limited contributions from leading scorer Dominic James, who appeared to take a forearm in the gut early on and played only 6 minutes in the first half. James, who has been playing through a sprained right wrist since being fouled hard against Seton Hall on Jan. 8, sat out the first 6 minutes of the second half and finished with three points.

Trailing by eight points at halftime, South Florida (10-11, 1-7) used a 10-4 run to tie the game at 42 with 5:10 remaining.

But Matthews responded immediately with a 3-pointer, and South Florida's upset bid began to fall apart when leading scorer and rebounder Kentrell Gransberry fouled out with 4:06 remaining.

Matthews then sealed the victory with two 3-pointers that put Marquette ahead 52-43 with 2:57 left.

Gransberry, who had 15 points and 15 rebounds, hurt himself at the free throw line, going 9-for-15.

Marquette's inside game has been struggling of late, and the Golden Eagles faced a tough test in Gransberry. Coming into Tuesday's game, the 6-foot-9, 270-pound center was leading the Bulls in scoring (17.1) and rebounding (10.8).

The Golden Eagles mostly contained Gransberry's offense in the first half, holding him to seven points, but had a hard time keeping him off the boards. Gransberry had nine rebounds in the first half.

Marquette was outrebounded 39-32 on Tuesday, and has been outrebounded in its last seven games.

South Florida led for much of the first half despite a knee injury that sidelined Bulls starting guard Solomon Bozeman for more than 7 minutes.

After trailing by as many as seven points, Marquette finally took a 23-20 lead on Hayward's three-point play with 3:47 left before halftime — part of a 10-0 run that helped Marquette build a 32-24 lead.

Tuesday's game was a reunion of the Tom Izzo coaching tree, as Marquette coach Tom Crean and South Florida coach Stan Heath both were on Izzo's staff at Michigan State in the late 1990s. Heath is in his first year at South Florida after five seasons at Arkansas.

Dominique Jones added 15 points for South Florida.