Marquette at No. 7/7 Villanova

When: Wednesday, 7 p.m. (EST)

Where: Wells Fargo Center (Philadelphia, Pa.).

Television: Fox Sports 1 (Joe Davis & Bill Raftery)

Radio: Villanova IMG Network: 610 WTEL AM/Sirius 113/XM 201/villanova.com and TuneIn Radio (Ryan Fannon & Whitey Rigsby)

Series: Villanova leads 14-9

Game Notes / Listen

VILLANOVA, Pa. - Villanova returns to its home away from home, the Wells Fargo Center, for two BIG EAST clashes this week. The first of those comes Wednesday night as the No. 7 Wildcats (19-2 overall, 6-2 BIG EAST) play host to Marquette (10-11 overall, 2-7 BIG EAST).

Villanova has only played twice since Jan. 19, downing Creighton and DePaul in the interim, ahead of what promises to be a challenging February.

"As coaches and players, this is what we like," stated Villanova head coach Jay Wright. "It's great to know that you've got a game coming every couple of days."

The Wildcats rallied from a 37-31 halftime deficit to down the Blue Demons 68-55 to sweep the season series last Saturday at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill. Junior Ryan Arcidiacono scored all 18 of his points in the second half while Villanova kept the Blue Demons' offense in check.

This will be Villanova's first look at Marquette under first year head coach Steve Wojciechowski, who replaced Buzz Williams last spring after Williams accepted the head coaching position at Virginia Tech.

"Wojo has them playing hard," states Wright. "They've been right there in all of their Big East games."

Indeed the numbers indicate just how close Marquette has been to adding some league games to the victory total. Of the squad's nine BIG EAST games, two have been decided in overtime and a total of eight were four points-or-closer in the final minute of regulation.

Senior Matt Carlino, a transfer from BYU, has been a force for the Golden Eagles. He averages 18.2 ppg in BIG EAST games this season.

"Carlino is an outstanding scorer, the kind of guy who can really getting it going and hurt you in a lot of ways," states Wright.

For the Wildcats, forward JayVaughn Pinkston contributed 14 points in the win at DePaul, including a 10-of-10 performance at the free throw line. Villanova's other senior, Darrun Hilliard, contributed 11 critical first half points to allow the `Cats to remain within striking distance.

Wednesday night's game is the first of eight for Villanova in the month of February. The Wildcats host Georgetown Saturday at the Center (2 p.m./Fox) and then travel to Providence and Butler next week before returning to meet Seton Hall at the Pavilion on Feb. 16.

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