Conference player of the year Ben Hansbrough scored 23 points and Carleton Scott added 18 as No. 4 Notre Dame crushed Cincinnati, 89-51, on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Big East Championship at Madison Square Garden.

Tim Abromaitis chipped in 17 points for the second-seeded Fighting Irish (26-5), who posted the second-largest margin of victory ever in the Big East tournament and will face either Louisville or Marquette in the semifinals on Friday.

Notre Dame is fighting for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament and certainly looked deserving of the honor on Thursday, knocking down eight 3-pointers in the first half to take a 40-30 lead into the locker room. Abromaitis led the way with 14 before the break, going 4 of 6 from beyond the arc.

The Irish opened it up in the second half, using a 9-0 run capped by a 3-pointer from Hansbrough to push it to 58-39 with 14:31 left. The seventh-seeded Bearcats never recovered, falling behind 81-51 with just over four minutes left before both teams pulled starters.

Dion Dixon scored 15 points and Yancy Gates collected 12 points and 10 rebounds for Cincinnati (25-8).