Marquette and Cincinnati had their Big East Tournament runs ended in ugly fashion in the tourney quarterfinals Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.

No. 11-seeded Marquette stayed close to No. 3 Louisville until the final 10 minutes when the Cardinals pulled away for an 81-56 win.

No. 2 Notre Dame, aiming for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, blitzed No. 7 Cincinnati 89-51.

Freshman Davante Gardner (King’s Fork) had two points and four rebounds for Marquette to wind up averaging 7.0 points and 5.3 rebounds a game in Marquette’s three tournament games.

Sophomore JaQuon Parker (King’s Fork) played eight minutes for UC.

Cincinnati (25-8) seems safely in the 68-team field for the NCAA Tournament.

Marquette (20-14) helped itself with wins in the first two rounds of the conference tourney. According to ESPN NCAA Tournament expert Joe Lunardi, Marquette is off the bubble and into the field as a No. 10 seed. The Bearcats and Golden Eagles will find out officially when the field is announced Sunday evening.

Senior high jumper Christopher Copeland (Lakeland) is one of eight St. Augustine’s men’s track and field athletes competing in the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships this weekend in Albuquerque, N.M.

Copeland won the NCAA national championship in the high jump a year ago and finished second in the nation for the outdoor season. Copeland’s best mark this season is 2.15 meters or just under 7-feet-0.75.

St. Augustine’s won the NCAA team championship for the 2010 outdoor season.