It may not have been pretty, but Marquette still found a way to come back and beat the South Florida Bulls, 59-58, Wednesday night in Tampa, Florida.

The Golden Eagles (15-9, 6-5) found themselves down 44-28 in the second half, but finished the game on a 31-14 run over the last 14 minutes. Junior forward Jae Crowder led the team with 14 points, including four three-pointers, and senior forward Jimmy Butler added 12 points along with six rebounds and five assists.

South Florida led the whole first half after the game was tied up 5-5 at the 15:45 mark, with its largest advantage coming with 2:58 remaining in the half, being up by 11 after USF’s Jawanza Poland made an easy lay-up.

Up seven at halftime, the Bulls came out raging in the second half, going up by as many as 16 after getting nine points from their first four possessions.

Marquette started clawing back, point by point.

Senior forward Joe Fulce started off the run by hitting a three-pointer to cut the deficit to 13 points. Fulce came off the bench and scored 10 points, hitting two shots from beyond the arc. A three-pointer by senior guard Dwight Buycks at the 6:35 mark made it a one possession game for the first time since the game was 9-7 in the first half.

Redshirt sophomore center Chris Otule made the front end of a one-and-one with five minutes left to tie the game up, and then Crowder hit a three with 4:26 left to give his team the lead for good. Then, it was Crowder once again with 1:36 left, hitting another three right in front of the Golden Eagles’ bench to make it a four-point game in their favor.

The shot was reminiscent of Butler’s fadeaway against Syracuse at the Bradley Center earlier this season, as Crowder took one jab step toward the hoop, then nailed the jumper from beyond the arc while fading toward the sideline.

The Golden Eagles would hold onto the lead and win by one, but it wasn’t easy. As usual, free throws troubled the team, missing their final eight. Coach Buzz Williams said it came down to tough guys making tough shots.

“We just need to make those,” Williams said. “There’s no excuse for it.”

For South Florida (8-17, 2-10), it summed up their season, as they lost another close game. There were a couple notable performances from Bulls players, including Toarlyn Fitzpatrick, who chipped in a big double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds. The team’s leading scorer Augustus Gilchrist added 11.

The Bulls’ coach Stan Heath said it was tough to swallow because he thought his team played well, despite its 19 turnovers.

“I thought it was one of our better offensive outputs,” Heath said. “We controlled the tempo of the game. That was a high-scoring team that we held way below their average.”

Marquette is off to the nation’s capital next, as they take on Georgetown Sunday at noon.