The Wildcats just always seemed to be a couple steps behind Marquette in Friday night’s road matchup.
Since suffering an upset loss to Xavier a week ago, Marquette brought the heat in its first game back at home since then.
The Golden Eagles sent double teams and pressure frequently and just always seemed to be a few steps ahead of Villanova at nearly every turn of the game.
The Wildcats lost their fourth game out of the last five, falling to Marquette, 87-74, on Friday night at the Fiserv Forum.
“A lot of credit to Marquette, they had a great gameplan and executed it,” Villanova coach Kyle Neptune said. “They played extremely hard, forced us into turnovers, got into transition and I thought they did everything they wanted to do.”
After trading baskets in the opening minutes of the Marquette, went on a 12-2 run to pull away from the ‘Cats and take a 17-10 lead with 11:20 remaining in the first half. Stevie Mitchell capped the run with a layup.
Later in the first half, there was nearly a three-minute stretch where both teams traded empty-handed possessions. Villanova attempted to substitute Eric Dixon back in, but he quickly got two fouls and coach Kyle Neptune kept him on the bench for the remainder of the half.
“No, I thought we were right there,” said Neptune if he considered leaving Dixon in once he got his second foul in the first half. “I didn’t want him to get a third.”
The Golden Eagles capitalized on this stretch, pushing their lead into double figures. Jordan Longino tried to give the ‘Cats a late first-half spark with Dixon benched in early foul trouble. He helped Villanova get the deficit down to a two-possession game, but the Golden Eagles didn’t let them get any closer.
Royce Parham drilled a three-pointer at the buzzer to give Marquette a 36-26 halftime lead.
“I thought they set the tone in that way — being physical and aggressive, forced us to make some tough shots,” Neptune said. “I thought it took us too long to adjust to that physicality.”
Longino continued to score and play well into the second half, but his single-handed effort wasn’t enough to lift the ‘Cats over the Golden Eagles. Marquette maintained its distance and lead over the Wildcats.
Villanova was unable to muster any run offensively or string together stops to chip away at the Marquette lead.
Over the final seven minutes of the game, the Golden Eagles clung onto their double-digit lead and were never in jeopardy.
Longino led the ‘Cats with a game-high 27 points on 8-of-19 shooting, with three boards, seven assists and a steal.
“He’s a player that folks who have been around our program, know he’s a high-level talent,” Neptune said of Longino. “He’s a guy that can make shots, defend multiple positions, and he’s done well offensively for us in Big East play, but he’s been a great defender as well throughout his entire career.”
Dixon finished with 18 points and seven rebounds. Jhamir Brickus chipped in 12 points and six assists.
The Wildcats shot 25-of-59 (42.4%) overall and 10-for-29 (34.5%) from deep.
For Marquette, Stevie Mitchell led the way with 21 points on an efficient 7-of-10 shooting clip. He was also a problem defensively, tallying three steals. he also had four boards and three assists. Chase Ross had 18 points. Kam Jones added 16 points, five rebounds, five assists and a block. Parham had 10 points off the bench.
The Golden Eagles were 28-of-60 (46.7%) overall and 9-for-30 (30.0%) from deep.
The Wildcats fall to 12-9 overall and 5-5 in Big East play. Since their big upset over two-time reigning national champion UConn at home on Jan. 8, Villanova is 1-4. It has a week until its next game, when it returns home to host Creighton on Saturday, Feb. 1. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET.