No. 12 Villanova beats Marquette

Villanova saw its defense go from good to bad Wednesday night against Marquette and needed clutch free-throw shooting down the stretch to break its two-game mini-losing streak.

The 12th-ranked Wildcats saw the Golden Eagles whittle a 14-point advantage to three but managed to hold on with the help of a good eye from the foul line and picked up a 75-70 victory at the Pavilion.

The Wildcats (18-4, 6-3 Big East), who won their 46th straight at their campus gym, looked sharp defensively in the first half, holding the conference's highest-scoring team, to just 25 points. But the Golden Eagles (14-9, 5-5) helped them out a little too much by settling for perimeter shots.

Marquette drove the ball to the hoop at will in the second half, with all but two of its 18 field goals coming in the paint. The Golden Eagles scored 45 in the second half, finishing almost 10 below their average.

Mouphtaou Yarou led the Cats with 18 points and Corey Fisher added 17.

The Wildcats held a 14-point advantage at the midway point of the second half, and led by 60-49 with 7 minutes, 46 seconds to play before the Eagles mounted a comeback that got them to within three on several occasions, the final time at 66-63 with 2:48 remaining.

During that time, Marquette scored on 10 of 11 possessions, driving to the hoop at will with the Wildcats almost powerless to stop them. Meanwhile, the Wildcats went 41/2 minutes with only one field goal.

From a 60-49 deficit, the Golden Eagles went on a 10-2 run and closed to 62-59 on two free throws by Jae Crowder with 5:04 remaining.

The difference would be three at 64-61 and 66-63 as the clock wound inside of three minutes. But Yarou notched a three-point play with 2:29 to play on what was Crowder's fifth personal foul to make it 69-63.

After a Marquette basket, Fisher sank two free throws to restore the six-point margin at the 1:32 mark. Pena hit three free throws down the stretch and Marquette never got closer than three.

Villanova shot just 40 percent in the first half, but limited Marquette to 34.6 percent and carried a 34-25 lead into the second half. But the Wildcats' defense started fading in the second half, mostly because the Golden Eagles drove more to the hoop than settle for perimeter shots.

The Wildcats kept a comfortable lead during the early portion of the half thanks to their shooting. They hit five of their first nine shots and extended their margin to 14, 53-39, on two free throws with Maalik Wayns with 11:17 remaining.

Antonio Pena's basket, marking the 1,000th point of his career, maintained the 14-point advantage before the Golden Eagles showed signs of life.

They scored six straight points to cut the deficit to eight, beginning a run that would see them score on all but one of 11 possessions over the next five minutes. Villanova extended the margin to 11, 60-49, on Yarou's reverse layup with 7:46 remaining and then had to hang on.

In the first half, the Golden Eagles elected to shoot mostly from the perimeter. The visitors scored only six points in the paint in the opening period compared to 18 for Villanova.

The Wildcats took command with an 8-0 run sparked by Yarou, who hit two free throws and a pair of layups. Pena followed up Yarou's only missed shot in that stretch with a putback, giving 'Nova a 21-14 lead with 8:06 to play.

Villanova also tried to get Stokes untracked in the latter portion of the half. After missing his first five attempts, Stokes got his first basket with a 10-foot jumper from the side, then nailed a three-ball in the final minute, helping the Cats to a 34-25 lead at the break.