Milwaukee ? Marquette men’s basketball coach Tom Crean remembered last season’s tough loss to Notre Dame. So did his team.

“They really gave it to us last year,” said Steve Novak, who scored a career-high 21 points, including five three-pointers, to lead No. 24 Marquette to a 71-58 victory Monday over No. 23 Notre Dame.

Scott Merritt added 18 points and 12 rebounds for the Golden Eagles (5-0), while Travis Diener scored 12 points in the 105th meeting between the rivals.

Torin Francis had 23 points and nine rebounds for Notre Dame (2-1), while Torrian Jones added 14 points and Chris Thomas, who was averaging 19.5 points, had 11.

Last year, the Irish beat then-No. 13 Marquette, 92-71, at their Joyce Center. Notre Dame had not played Marquette at the Bradley Center since a 72-48 loss Nov. 21, 1997.

“They waited a year for this game,” Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said.

Novak’s three three-pointers in the second half kept Notre Dame from getting back in the game.

He hit consecutive three-pointers that gave Marquette a 63-49 lead with 3:57 to play.

“The three-point shot can turn the game quick,” the sophomore said after hitting five threes in a game for the third time in his career. “It had a lot to do with this game.”

Marquette clung to its double-digit lead until two free throws by Francis and a basket by Thomas cut it to seven with 1:23 to play.

Notre Dame came no closer as Novak made four free throws and Diener added two to seal the win.

Marquette took an early lead, capitalizing on Notre Dame’s poor shooting.

Merritt had eight points during a 20-2 run that was capped by Marcus Jackson’s basket that gave Marquette a 22-5 lead with 10:50 left in the first half.

“To get the start we had, I would never have imagined that,” Crean said. “We had a lot of people step up all night long.”

Jackson’s layin pushed the lead to 34-11, but the Irish went on a 15-7 run. Jones had six points and Francis added five, including two free throws, in the run that trimmed Marquette’s lead to 41-26 at halftime.

No. 3 Connecticut 75, Lehigh 55

Hartford, Conn. — Ben Gordon scored 19 points and had a career-high five steals to lead Connecticut to a victory over Lehigh.

The Huskies (5-1) were playing their first game after relinquishing the No. 1 ranking, which they held in the preseason poll and for the first two weeks of the regular season.

Rashad Anderson finished with 14 points, and Denham Brown had 13 points and eight rebounds to help UConn overcome a rocky first half against the smaller Mountain Hawks (1-3).

Jose Olivero led Lehigh with 17 points and Ra Tiah was 3-of-5 from behind the three-point line and finished with 11.

No. 9 Kentucky 89, Marshall 76

Cincinnati — Gerald Fitch scored 24 points, and the Wildcats withstood Marshall’s three-point flurry and second-half comeback.

Fitch, a senior guard who had a career-high 36 points Friday against Tennessee Tech, was the only consistent threat for Kentucky (3-0), which let a 13-point lead dwindle to six in the closing minutes.

Marshall (1-2) hit 10 three-pointers to keep Kentucky fidgety, but missed its last five shots from behind the arc and faded in the closing minutes.