VILLANOVA, Pa. – Marquette scored the last seven points of the contest to knock off No.11/11 Villanova 57-54 Wednesday night at Finneran Pavilion. Justin Lewis sank the decisive 3-point field goal with 11.9 seconds to play after a near steal by the Wildcats near the top of the key.
 
"That was a great Big East basketball game – tough, physical," stated Villanova head coach Jay Wright. "I thought both teams played great. I give Marquette a lot of credit. They played great defensively. Lewis and Darryl Morsell were outstanding. That was the difference.
 
"You play a game like that and you go back and look at a lot of things. Every possession in every part of the game is critical. I thought we battled right to the end but they made more plays than we did."
 
Eric Dixon led Villanova with 15 points. The Wildcats were held without a point over the final 2:19. Villanova connected on .379 of its field goal attempts on the night and committed 10 turnovers, including several critical ones in the final minutes.
 
Lewis, meanwhile, finished with 21 points and seven rebounds.
 
"They made a number of timely shots," noted Wright, "including the most timely one by Lewis."
 
Marquette sank 3-of-4 from beyond the arc in the opening 5:26 of the first half to grab a 13-9 advantage at the first official timeout. Justin Moore tallied seven of Nova's first nine points.
 
The Wildcats (13-5 overall, 6-2 BIG EAST) were unable to find the shooting groove they had in Sunday's 82-42 victory over Butler. A scoring drought of 3:41 allowed the Golden Eagles to expand their advantage to 15-9.
 
Some nifty interior passing by Collin Gillespie freed up Eric Dixon for consecutive interior buckets that cut the Golden Eagles' lead to 20-18 at the 7:26 mark of the first period. But Marquette (13-6 overall, 5-3 BIG EAST) answered with a 3-pointer by Darryl Morsell and a basket by Justin Lewis to push the advantage to 25-20 as the clock dipped below the four-minute mark of the first half.
 
A 9-0 run keyed by Gillespie gave Villanova a lead at 29-25 with 1:40 to play in the first half. But Marquette closed on a 5-0 surge of its own to take a 30-29 lead into its locker room at halftime.
 
Lewis led all first half scorers with 11 points while Moore had 10 for Villanova. The Wildcats connected on 13-of-31 field goal attempts (.413), including 3-of-13 from beyond the 3-point arc.
 
Villanova scored the first four points of the second half and held the Golden Eagles without a field goal for nearly four minutes. But when Greg Elliott drained a 3-pointer the game was tied at 33 as the clock dipped below the 15-minute mark of the second half. Another Marquette 3-pointer gave the Golden Eagles a 36-33 edge.
 
The Wildcats, however, responded with a 12-0 burst capped by a Moore 3-pointer that brought the crowd of 6,501 to its feet with 10:52 to play in the period.
 
A trio of 3-pointers by Marquette – offset by one from Villanova's Caleb Daniels – brought the Golden Eagles to within 48-45. Villanova pushed the lead to 51-47 but three straight Golden Eagles and another 3-pointer – their 12^th of the night – shaved the lead to 51-50 with three minutes to play in regulation. A driving basket near the goal and a free throw by Gillespie at the 2:19 mark gave Nova a 54-50.
 
Lewis answered with a basket to cut the lead to 54-52.
 
Marquette got a defensive stop and possession of the basketball with 1:21 left on the clock. Lewis then tied the game on a spinning drive into the lane for two. There was 1:03 to play. Villanova couldn't convert on an attempt near the basket with just over 40 seconds left and Marquette retrieved the rebound.
 
That set up the decisive sequence.
 
A 3-point attempt by Moore on Villanova's final possession was off line.
 
The Wildcats are set to head back out on the road next. Villanova travels to Washington, D.C. for a Saturday matchup with Georgetown at Capital One Arena. Tipoff is set for noon (Fox and the Villanova IHeart Radio Network).