Villanova: The Grind of the Big East Conference has alot of ups and downs and we had a top 15 battle on Wednesday night that saw the Villanova Wildcats take on Marquette Golden Eagles from Finneran Pavilion on the campus of Villanova University. The Wildcats came into the game on a three game losing streak following their loss to Seton Hall on February 8.
Notes:
Marquette beat Villanova back on January 4 by the score of 71-60.
Villanova has defeated Marquette the last 7 time at home, the last time that Maquette took down the Wildcats on the Main Line was in Janaury 28,2012.
Villanova has also defeated Marquette in the Big East Tournament in 2015 & 2018.
How the game went:
The Wildcats & Golden Eagles both came out making their shots and the Golden Eagles would have the Wildcats lead down to 1 early on. The Wildcats opened things up & took the lead as high as 15 at 28-13 with 8:09 left in the half. Villanova took a 38-29 lead at halftime.
During halftime, Villanova would retire the jersey of Ryan Arcidiacono who was a member of the Vilalnova team that won the 2016 NCAA Championship
During the second half, the Wildcats kept the pressure on the Golden Eagles as they attempted to end their three game losing streak. Villanova pushed the lead up to 18 at 49-31 with 15:52 left & at this point of the game, everyone thought it was over. Not so fast said Marquette, who they slowly cut into the lead down to 5 at 65-60 with 3:58 left.
This young Wildcats team would take the best shot from Marquette and they would fire back with 3 pointer from Colin Gillespie
We would see history made at the end of the game as Marquette’s Markus Howard would become the Big East All time leading scorer with this three pointer to end the game.
Villanova held on for a 72-71 win and in the process end their three game losing streak.
What is next:
Villanova now is 18-6 & 8-4 in the Big East and will look to start a new winning streak as they battle Big 5 rivals the Temple Owls on Sunday February 16 and then return to Big East play when they take on DePaul on February 18 from DePaul.
Final numbers:
Jermeiah Robinson-Earl lead the Wildcats with 17 points in the win and Markus Howard put in 24 for Marquette in the loss.
Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
