Box Score MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The No. 14/13 Villanova Wildcats (19-5 overall, 10-1 BIG EAST) dug their way out of a 15-point second half hole but were unable to hold off No. 10/9 Marquette (20-4 overall, 9-2 BIG EAST) in the game's final minutes as they dropped a 66-65 decision to the Golden Eagles Saturday.
 
A Saddiq Bey steal in the final 20 seconds gave the Wildcats the game's final offensive look. But the Wildcats were unable to get a quality look in the final sequence of 12.8 seconds, allowing the Golden Eagles to escape with the win.
 
"They executed one more play than we did at the end," stated Villanova head coach Jay Wright. "We didn't do as good a job of spacing as we would have wanted to but Marquette defended it really well by surrounding Phil (Booth)."
 
The loss snapped an 11-game Wildcats' winning streak.
 
Marquette standout Markus Howard led all scorers with 38 points while senior Booth paced Villanova with 19 points, including five clutch points that helped bring the 'Cats back from a 64-59 deficit in the last three minutes. Senior Eric Paschall played a pivotal role too, finishing with 17 points and six rebounds.
 
"I'm proud of our effort," Wright said. "To lose a game like that you look at a lot of little things you could have done better. You've got to learn from it."
 
Entering the game Marquette led the BIG EAST in field goal percentage and 3-point field goal percentage defense. Meanwhile, Villanova's 66.6 points against average topped the conference. And the first 20 minutes of action only reinforced the veracity of those statistics.
 
The Wildcats grabbed an early 5-2 advantage before Howard struck for eight straight points for the Golden Eagles to push Marquette to a 10-5 edge. More scoring from Howard helped extend the margin to 20-12 at the 8:04 mark of the first half. Thirteen of those points belonged to Howard.
 
Each time Marquette stretched its lead, Villanova had a response. Another Howard 3-pointer gave the Golden Eagles a 28-19 edge before the Wildcats scored the game's next four points off buckets from Jermaine Samuels and Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree. It was 28-23 in MU's favor with 2:08 left in the first half.
 
At the half the count was Marquette 30, Villanova 26.
 
The team's resident stars led the way on the scoresheet. Booth (10 points) and Paschall (nine) combined for 19 of the 'Cats 26 points in a period in which they converted 10-of-29 (.345) from the field and just 2-of-14 (.143) against the BIG EAST's top 3-point field goal percentage defensive team. At the other end, Howard notched 21 of Marquette's 30 points.
 
"They play very good team defense and they're long," Wright noted.
 
Marquette executed smartly to drain its first seven field goal attempts of the second half while the Wildcats only got a 3-pointer from Bey and a free throw from Paschall. That allowed the Golden Eagles to craft a 42-30 lead four minutes into the second half. The lead grew to 47-32 a short while later before a Joe Cremo 3-pointer ended the run.
 
"We just kept saying to one another on the bench, keep battling and stay aggressive," said Paschall.
 
Bey helped the Wildcats finish off a 10-0 spurt in response to narrow the gap to 47-42 with 9:33 on the clock. But it was Howard to the rescue again for the Golden Eagles as the junior scored four straight points to make it a 51-42 margin for Marquette.
 
The pendulum swung back in Villanova's favor, though, thanks to some nifty work at both ends by Paschall. A 3-pointer from the left side drew the Wildcats to within 53-50 as the clock dipped below the seven minute mark of the second half. When Jermaine Samuels drained his second 3-pointer of the half, Villanova had the lead back, 55-53.
 
From that point, Marquette used a 9-4 burst – again keyed by Howard – to reclaim the advantage. The Golden Eagles took a 64-59 into the final 3:07 of the game. That's when the Wildcats put together the final surge that came up a tad short.
 
Bey (10 points, six rebounds, three steals and three assists) and Samuels (nine points and five rebounds) both were instrumental in the comeback effort.
 
Villanova returns to BIG EAST action on Wednesday evening when it hosts Providence at the Finneran Pavilion. Tipoff is set for just after 6:30 p.m. (FS1 and 610 ESPN Radio).