Louisville, KY (Sports Network) - Terrence Williams racked up 20 points and Louisville's defense held Marquette's offense to nearly 30 points below its season average as the Cardinals dominated the 13th-ranked Golden Eagles, 71-51, in Big East play at Freedom Hall.

David Padgett notched 17 points and 10 rebounds off the bench for Louisville (13-4, 3-1 Big East), while Derrick Caracter poured in 11 points and Edgar Sosa pitched in with nine points for the Cardinals, who won their fourth straight and moved into a four-way tie with Pittsburgh, Georgetown and Notre Dame atop the Big East with the win.

Jerel McNeal led the way for Marquette (13-3, 3-2), scoring 16 points. Backcourt mate Wesley Matthews was the only other Golden Eagle to register double figures with 14 points as Marquette lost for the second time in four contests.

Louisville's 2-3 zone defense smothered Marquette's potent offense throughout the night. The Golden Eagles, who came into the game averaging 80.1 points per game, shot just 30.4 percent from the floor and were blanked from three- point range, missing all 12 attempts from beyond the arc.

"Well defense is what wins," said Louisville head coach Rick Pitino. "We can't play racehorse basketball anymore because we're coming off injuries; but we do want to run."

The Cardinals controlled the game early, mainly due to Marquette's complete ineffectiveness on offense. The Golden Eagles made just two of their first 20 attempts from the field, and no Marquette player other than Matthews made a field goal until Lawrence Blackledge's reverse layup with 7:45 remaining in the first half.

Louisville didn't fare much better on the offensive end, but Sosa's three-pointer with 5:22 left in the half pushed the Cardinals' lead to 23-11. Marquette closed to within eight on Dominic James' runner at the buzzer, and trailed 27-19 at the break.

"Any time you settle of mid range jump shots - which is what we did in the first half, the foul line shot is open for a reason - it doesn't matter if you're in a man-to-man or a zone," Marquette head coach Tom Crean said. "And anytime you're playing against a tough defense, you can't settle for jumpshots."

Marquette closed the gap to four just two minutes after the break following a three-point play by Matthews, but Louisville retaliated with a 12-0 run, capped off by a jumper from Preston Knowles that ballooned the lead to 42-26 with 12:56 remaining.

McNeal pulled Marquette back within 10 with a three-point play with 9:10 to go, but the Cardinals danced away yet again, with a Williams three-pointer with 5:48 remaining, extending the lead to 60-42 and cementing the victory.