He had shown flashes, sure.

A 25-point game here, a seven-assist game there and a steady supply of steals. But Jerel McNeal rarely had put everything together this season as well as he did Wednesday night at the Bradley Center.

The sophomore guard had 22 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds, four steals and just three turnovers as No. 15 Marquette (18-4, 5-2 Big East) capitalized on numerous fast-break opportunities for an 89-76 win over Seton Hall (11-8, 3-4), marking the Golden Eagles' fifth straight victory.

"The day (McNeal) stops attacking is the day he loses his effectiveness, and he's going to attack his way right into the NBA some day," head coach Tom Crean said. "But it's in the decision-making, it's playing with his head up, it's changing speeds – all those things are where the improvement is coming."

McNeal, who had averaged 5.8 turnovers in his previous five games, topped the 20-point mark for the first time in conference play.

Sophomore Wesley Matthews added 22 points of his own, and both guards did most of their damage in the paint off dribble penetration.

"I was just taking what was given to me," Matthews said.

Seton Hall gave him a lot.

The notion of getting back on defense seemed abhorrent to the Pirates, who gave the Golden Eagles an embarrassing number of transition layups.

Seton Hall quickly learned that giving an excellent transition team so many chances to run was a bad idea, and the Pirates trailed by as much as 16 toward the end of the first half.

Marquette outscored Seton Hall 38-2 in fast-break points, which contributed to the Golden Eagles' 57.9 field-goal percentage.

The hot shooting also had to do with the team's improved awareness of its offensive strengths.

"We couldn't settle for outside shots," Matthews said. "That's not the kind of team we are. We're not a jump-shooting team. We're a drive-and-kick shooting team.

"When we're able to get in the lane, we're good finishers. And that's what we did."

Marquette attemped just 12 three-pointers, and scored 56 points in the paint.

Seton Hall didn't help itself by using a full-court press on the Marquette guards. Instead of forcing Golden Eagle turnovers, the press surrendered layup after layup.

"When they started pressing, we did a good job of breaking the press and scoring easy points off it," McNeal said.

Matthews benefited most from Seton Hall's lax transition defending, and his layup with 14:18 to go put his team up 63-43.

The scoring perhaps was coming too easily, and Seton Hall's Jamar Nutter, who led the Pirates with 18 points off the bench, shot his team back into the game.

His jumper with 10:15 left decreased the deficit to 64-58, and Seton Hall twice cut Marquette's lead to five.

"It was easy for us on offense, and I think we lost our way a bit defensively . but we regrouped quickly," Crean said.

McNeal scored five points and handed out three assists during Marquette's 15-3 run that put the team up 85-68.