The slick point guard scored 24 points and repeatedly darted through Louisville's full-court press for soft jumpers and layups, steadying No. 13 Marquette to an 84-76 victory Thursday in the Conference USA tournament.

The Golden Eagles (25-5) will play in the semifinals Friday against Houston, which upset Memphis 80-74.

Marquette wasted most of an 18-point lead against Louisville (18-12), which went to its press and forced Henry to dribble the length of the floor through a dizzying array of traps.

Soaked with sweat and gulping breaths, Marquette's best ball handler hit a pair of floating jumpers down the stretch to finish off the Golden Eagles' third win over Louisville this season.

"When you're in a game, you can't think about fatigue," Henry said. "You have to play above everything else. I just tried to get into the lane and make something happen."

Henry played 39 minutes, grabbing rest a few seconds at a time, and had only two turnovers in a repeat performance. He scored 23 points and had only two turnovers in 35 minutes of a 75-63 win over Louisville on Feb. 16.

"We gave it everything we had, and it wasn't enough," Louisville coach Rick Pitino said. "Their point guard probably gave us more trouble than anyone else this season."

Reece Gaines scored 29 points for Louisville, and Luke Whitehead - playing most of the second half with four fouls - had 25 points and a dunk that cut Marquette's lead to 67-65 with five minutes left.

When Marquette came back on the floor after a timeout, the Golden Eagles set up on defense and slapped the floor, issuing a challenge.

"We just got into the huddle and stood together," Henry said. "There was no panic at all. Everyone stayed calm and under control."

Henry then hit a floating jumper, and Dwyane Wade had a dunk that put Marquette back in control at 71-65. Wade had a pull-up jumper and a putback that made it 75-67 with 2:07 remaining.

Louisville never seriously threatened after Henry dribbled as the shot clock wound down and hit another floating jumper with 1:14 to go.

Despite the loss, Louisville was upbeat about its progress in Pitino's first season. The Cardinals beat No. 5 Cincinnati and Charlotte to end the regular season, and are hoping for an NIT berth so they can keep playing.

"It was a very positive season," Whitehead said. "We struggled a lot in the middle, then built ourselves back up and felt everything was going right toward the end. There's still some games in postseason, so we're going to try to win a tournament."

Twenty-four hours after running the floor at top speed in a 110-86 win over TCU, Louisville had to put on the brakes and search for openings against Marquette's impenetrable half-court defense.

There weren't many, and the Cardinals quickly got flustered. They missed nine of their first 11 shots, including five 3-point attempts, as Marquette pulled ahead 14-4.

Travis Diener and Oluoma Nnamaka hit 3s in an eight-point run that pushed the lead to 33-15 with 7:23 to play and left the Cardinals' offense in shambles.

Pitino called a timeout and turned to the press to create points. Larry O'Bannon's steal and layup off an inbound pass highlighted a 10-2 run that cut the lead to 37-27 before the comeback stalled.

Louisville stayed with the press at the start of the second half and got results. Marquette had five turnovers in the first five minutes, and Whitehead scored seven consecutive points as the Cardinals cut the lead to 48-41.

Whitehead's 17-foot jumper made it 49-45 with 13:50 to play and energized a crowd dominated by Louisville fans. They got quiet when Ellis Myles and Whitehead each got their fourth fouls in the next 33 seconds, leaving Louisville's front line handcuffed.

Myles fouled out with 6:55 to go, and Louisville never got closer than two points down the stretch.

The Cardinals went 15-of-30 on 3-point shots against TCU's disinterested defense, but couldn't get uncontested shots against some of the conference's best perimeter defenders.