Dwight Hardy led the way with 28 points, six rebounds and five steals as St. John’s won its third straight game 80-68 over host Marquette on Tuesday.

Justin Brownlee added 11 points and seven rebounds, and D.J. Kennedy scored 15 points for the Red Storm (16-9, 8-5 Big East), who padded their resume for an NCAA Tournament at-large berth and stayed tied for fifth in the Big East.

Jimmy Butler collected 23 points for the Golden Eagles (15-11, 6-7), who saw their at-large chances take a hit as they fell below .500 in conference.

The game was tied at the half and went back and forth after the break until Hardy and Kennedy combined for all the points in a 9-0 spurt that put St. John’s up 62-52 with 8:39 remaining.

Justin Burrell’s layup with 4:42 left pushed the lead to 70-57 and the Red Storm were able to hold Marquette off the rest of the way.

The Golden Eagles have dropped five of their last seven but will face only one ranked team - No. 12 Connecticut on Feb. 24 - the rest of the way.