MILWAUKEE, Wis. – No. 24 Marquette (16-7 overall, 8-4 BIG EAST) used an early flurry to build a lead it never surrendered on its way to an 83-73 victory over Villanova on Wednesday night at Fiserv Forum here. The Wildcats closed to within 56-53 midway through the second half, but Marquette used a 16-6 surge to pull away as the clock wound down.
 
Senior Brandon Slater led No. 14 Villanova (16-6 overall, 9-3 BIG EAST) with 18 points while Collin Gillespie added 16 points and Caleb Daniels 15 points. Marquette drained 10-of-24 from beyond the 3-point arc while limiting Nova to 10-of-34 (.294) from long distance.
 
Justin Lewis led the Golden Eagles with 19 points and nine rebounds.
 
"Marquette jumped on us early and we didn't handle that pressure well," stated Villanova head coach Jay Wright. "And then you're in an uphill battle against a really good team that defends and shoots threes. You've just got to give them credit."
 
The Golden Eagles, who closed the prior meeting with the Wildcats on a 7-0 run to claim the 57-54 victory, reeled off the first seven points in this one over a span of 95 seconds here before a Slater bucket got the 'Cats on the scoreboard. Lewis followed with a 3-pointer to make it a 10-2 Golden Eagles' burst to open the game.
 
The Golden Eagles pushed their lead to 15-6 after 4:13 of action in part by forcing four Villanova turnovers.
 
"It surprised me a little bit how much their pressure affected us, but it did," Wright stated. "I saw our guys were tentative and not being aggressive to go at them. I think (Olivier-Maxence) Prosper is great at the top of their press. We were prepared for it but they just did a really good job.
 
"We got into a big hole early. On the road, against a good team like that, you try to battle back. We battled but you can't play 5-7 minutes like that to start the game. Those turnovers mean we're not getting set in our defense, they're getting open 3's. I just think the beginning of that game was the key."
 
Caleb Daniels added 10 points of offense to the 'Cats attack yet the Golden Eagles were able to continue their own offensive push. Marquette held a 25-16 lead nine minutes into the game by converting nine of its first 15 field goal attempts, including four from beyond the 3-point arc.
 
An 11-5 burst aided by 3-pointers from Jermaine Samuels and Slater helped Villanova shave the Golden Eagles lead to 30-27 with 7:26 to play in the period. However, Marquette responded with an 11-0 surge to push its lead back to 41-27. The margin was boosted by a 15-7 advantage on the glass for Marquette.
 
The second of two free throws by Justin Moore was the 1,000 point of the junior's college career.
 
At the half, Marquette held a 46-32 lead. Lewis (13 points) and Tyler Kolek (12 points) combined for 25 of those points as the Golden Eagles connected on .567 of their field goal attempts, including .467 of their attempts from distance.
 
Meanwhile, Villanova was just 11-of-26 (.427) from the floor, 6-of-17 from long range (.353). Daniels led VU with 10 points. Marquette owned an 18-9 edge on the glass.
 
The 46 points were the second highest total surrendered by the Wildcats in a half in 2021-22. Purdue netted 49 second half points in its 80-74 win over Villanova in November.
 
Villanova used a 10-2 spurt to open the second half to cut the Golden Eagles margin to 48-42. Yet Marquette scored the next five points to push the advantage to 53-42.
 
The Wildcats, though, closed the gap as their defense put together a series of stops. A pair of Slater free throws with 9:58 to play in the period brought VU to within 56-53. Eight straight points by Darryl Morsell, however, pushed the lead back to 64-53 with 6:40 on the clock.
 
Marquette retained a comfortable margin the rest of the way, building a 76-64 lead with 1:10 remaining to be played.
 
"We battled," said Wright, "but we just put ourselves into a difficult position early in the game."
 
The Wildcats had planned to return to Philadelphia in the early morning hours Thursday but foggy conditions in the Delaware Valley forced them to remain overnight here. Villanova will face a quick turnaround as they host No. 17 Connecticut at Wells Fargo Center Saturday at noon (Fox and the Villanova IHeart Radio Network).