MILWAUKEE – Davante Gardner scored a career-high 26 points, and No. 22 Marquette beat No. 12 Syracuse, 74-71, on Monday night in a game that further tightened things at the top of the Big East.

Gardner played only 11 minutes in Marquette’s 60-56 loss at Villanova on Saturday, with coach Buzz Williams saying he benched the junior center because “he played really bad.”

Gardner was the exact opposite against the Orange, making all seven of his shots and converting 12 of 13 free throws in 33 minutes to pull Marquette (20-7 overall, 11-4 Big East) into second place, one-half game behind No. 7 Georgetown.