Surging Villanova defeats No. 17 Marquette

As soon as the buzzer sounded to end Villanova's senior day, 6-foot-10, 250-pound Mouphtaou Yarou made a beeline for Jay Wright and wrapped him in a hug that might have had the coach wincing. Then Yarou climbed on a table with fellow senior Maurice Sutton during the playing of the school's fight song and both received loud, sustained applause.

The Wildcats had their hands full Saturday night with 17th-ranked Marquette and could not focus on a "win one for the seniors" attitude. But thanks to Darrun Hilliard's second-half scoring spree and Yarou's play late, they persevered in a 60-56 Big East victory at the Pavilion.

Hilliard scored 11 of his game-high 22 points over a five-minute stretch of the second half to extend a three-point lead to 11 with 3 minutes, 32 seconds to play for the Wildcats (18-10, 9-6 Big East), who helped their NCAA chances by posting their third victory this season over a ranked team.

While the Golden Eagles (19-7, 10-4), who entered the day in a three-way tie for the conference lead, got it to a two-possession game in the final 1:30, the Wildcats hung on. Yarou rebounded a missed three-pointer by Vander Blue that would have made it a three-point game, and later sneaked behind the Marquette press for a dunk with 15.4 seconds left.

Yarou, who had 10 points and seven rebounds, showed no trace of emotion in front of the media, saying he would think about the day when he returned to his room.

"My day was great," he said. "I was thinking about the team. After the game I was thinking about my time here. I've enjoyed the time. It's always about the team and it's always about the next game."

It was different for Hilliard, who shot 7 of 10 from the field and sank three of 'Nova's four three-pointers.

"When Mouph and Mo stood on the table, it was emotional, even for me," the sophomore guard said. "I was pretty emotional about it because I respect them so much, the things they do every day for the team. It was a special feeling."

It wasn't a pretty game.

The Golden Eagles clobbered the Wildcats on the boards, 37-24. They shot 60 percent from the field in the second half. But turnovers told the story; Villanova forced 19 and outscored Marquette, 17-2, in points off turnovers.

"Marquette beats a lot of teams just because they compete harder and execute better," Wright said. "We said that to beat that team, we've got to play hard. That's what makes us really proud of the effort."

And getting a win in the final game for Yarou and Sutton at the Pavilion was special.

"We talked about that at shootaround, that it can't be about the seniors," Wright said. "But when the game's over, you're elated. The first thing that comes to your mind, thank God we did this for Mouphie and Mo."