VILLANOVA, Pa. – A sensational night from sophomore forward Jermaine Samuels and lockdown defense in the final minutes helped lift Villanova past No. 10/9 Marquette 67-61 Wednesday night at Finneran Pavilion. The Wildcats got big stops late and clutch scoring from Phil Booth on Senior Night.
 
Samuels registered a career-high 29 points on 10-of-19 shooting from the floor to go with nine rebounds. Booth added 17 points, including a 10-of-10 night at the free throw line.
 
Villanova snapped a three game losing streak while upping its overall record to 21-8 (12-4 BIG EAST). The Golden Eagles fell to 23-5 overall, 12-3 BIG EAST.
 
The Wildcats earned the win by holding the potent Marquette attack in check on an evening when they connected on just 20-of-58 field goal attempts (.345).
 
"I don't' want to forget to do this because we are grateful to be a part of this," stated VU head coach Jay Wright. "What a great Big East game. I think Marquette is a Final Four caliber team. They're really, really tough.
 
"We just played tough tonight. It wasn't pretty. We only had seven turnovers but it seemed like a lot more to me than that. We had a lot of shots and we couldn't make them. You've got to give credit to their defense.
 
"Jermaine was amazing. Our two seniors, Phil and Eric (Paschall) have the young guys around them and they just gutted it out."
 
Markus Howard led Marquette with 25 points – but only scored one point in the final nine minutes after drawing his third and fourth fouls in short order with 9:28 to play.
 
The Wildcats managed some quality looks in the game's first 4:10 but misfired on their first six attempts from the floor. But some gritty defense kept matters close as Marquette took a 4-2 lead into the game's first official timeout.
 
Terrific defense and nine quick points from sophomore Samuels helped Villanova grab its first lead. It extended its advantage to 24-12 with 7:50 left to play in the first half.
 
Marquette, though, responded with a burst of its own, scoring eight straight points while holding Villanova without a bucket. A Booth feed to Samuels for a dunk snapped the run at the 4:02 mark and it was 26-20.
 
A Howard 3-pointer with 15 seconds to play in the half pulled the Golden Eagles to within 30-28. On its final possession of the period, Phil Booth used a pump fake to draw a Marquette foul with .6 seconds on the clock. The senior sank both free throw and the Wildcats took a 32-28 lead into the locker room at intermission.
 
Villanova's lead could only be attributed to its work at the defensive end and the offensive outburst from Samuels, who finished the first 20 minutes with 15 points. The Wildcats were just 10-of-28 from the field (.357) in the half, including 4-of-16 from beyond the arc (.250). Marquette also owned a 17-13 advantage on the glass.
 
More firepower from Samuels helped Villanova push its lead to 40-32. But Marquette heated up by sinking 7-of-9 field goal attempts in the first six minutes of the second half, including 4-of-5 from beyond the 3-point arc. It allowed the Golden Eagles to reclaim the lead at 46-44.
 
Howard was at the center of it all and when he buried a 3-pointer with just over 12 minutes to play in the second half, it was Samuels again to the rescue for the Wildcats. He scored on a nifty drive and finish at the goal and was fouled on the play. His free throw tied the game at 51 with 11:01 on the clock.
 
Down the stretch it was Booth draining clutch free throws while the Wildcats clamped down on defense. The end result was a 67-61 win with Samuels playing a vital role.
 
"Jermaine's an amazing young man and really talented," said Wright. "Early in the year they just weren't guarding him. It put him into a position where he was open all the time. We were telling him to shoot.
 
"It's a tough position to be in when they don't guard you. It seems like it would be easy but it's hard. So we've been trying to teach him through the year what kind of decisions to make when they don't guard you. We felt like he was getting to the point where he's making good decisions."

"I just wanted to be aggressive," Samuels stated. "I wanted to keep my teammates involved as well."
 
Prior to the game Villanova honored its class of 2019 – Booth, Joe Cremo, Tim Delaney, Peyton Heck and Eric Paschall. Also recognized was 2018 Bob Cousy Award winner Mikal Bridges, now of the Phoenix Suns, who gave up his final season of eligibility to enter the National Basketball Association Draft.
 
The Wildcats host their final regular season home game on Saturday when Butler comes to the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. Tipoff for that contest – which airs nationally on Fox Television (Fox 29 Philadelphia) and can be heard locally on 610 ESPN Radio – is set for just after 2 p.m.