Final Score: Villanova 81, Marquette 66
 
Overview
 
A torrid stretch of shooting over the game's opening 10 minutes helped stake Villanova to a double-digit lead before the contest was five minutes old, helping fuel a convincing victory over No. 16 Marquette.
 
Eric Dixon (23 points) and Jhamir Brickus (21 points) provided much of the early firepower and redshirt freshman Jordann Dumont stepped forward off the bench, adding a career-high 15 points on 4-of-4 shooting from beyond the 3-point arc. They also were solid with the basketball against a Marquette side that averages 10 steals per game (seven VU turnovers on the night).
 
The Wildcats held their own against Marquette at the defensive end too. The Wildcats held Marquette to 24-of-57 shooting on the evening (.421) and improved to 13-4 this season when holding opponents below the 70-point mark (.765).
 
"I thought our guys were super focused, especially on the defensive end to start," said Villanova head coach Kyle Neptune. "It didn't hurt that we made a bunch of shots, especially early. Either way, we were really good defensively in large parts of that game."
 
Shots Fell in Opening Minutes
 
The Wildcats found a scoring groove in the game's opening 4:11, sinking five of six from the field, including all four of their attempts from beyond the 3-point arc. Brickus and Dixon each dropped in two from deep, helping Nova craft a 14-4 lead over the Golden Eagles.
 
Villanova cooled off a bit in the next few minutes, but Brickus dropped in two more from long range and Tyler Perkins added a short jumper. With 10:18 to play in the first half, Nova led the Golden Eagles 22-11.
 
Crisp ball movement got the Wildcats another triple, this one from Wooga Poplar, to help push their lead to 28-13 after 12:05 of the first half.
 
"We have high-level players who make great decisions," noted Neptune. "It was a point of attention at practice to be solid with the basketball. These guys get after you and force you into turnovers. I thought our guys did a great job of being solid and sturdy with the ball.
 
Dumont Delivers
 
Redshirt freshman Jordann Dumont has lately earned more responsibility, appearing in each of the Wildcats last eight games after a lengthy buildup from surgery on both hips last May. The native of Montreal buried 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to help the Wildcats extend their lead to 36-20 before Marquette answered with just its second 3-pointer of the night.
 
With 3:50 remaining in the period, Villanova led the Golden Eagles 36-23.
 
Kam Jones hit his second 3-pointer of the night as part of a 10-0 run to close the gap to 36-28.
 
Dumont then hit his third 3-pointer to make it 39-28.
 
"Guys just did a good job of finding me," said the forward who entered tonight having scored 14 points in 12 games. "I just tried to stay ready for when my number was called. The guys did a good job of finding me when I was unguarded."
 
Added Neptune: "He's been working all season to get back from surgery on both of his hips. He was a little bit behind to start the year. I give him a lot of credit. He just worked, worked and worked. We saw him improving in practice. The last time we played Marquette (Jan. 24), we got him out there and you could tell he was ready to go."
 
Lowery answered with another Golden Eagles deep ball to shave the margin to 39-31.
 
Next, came a deep Dixon corner 3-ball on which he was knocked to the floor. When the 6-8 forward added a free throw, the lead was 43-31.
 
One more Brickus bomb – his fifth of the first 20 minutes – allowed Villanova to take a 46-33 lead into the locker room at intermission.
 
The Wildcats were 12-of-15 from beyond the arc over the first 20 minutes.
 
"We can do that," said Neptune of the 3-point accuracy. "We've got some high-level shooters and I thought we moved the ball pretty well. And our defense allowed us to get the stops we needed."
 
After Intermission
 
Points were harder to come by for the Wildcats in the opening minutes of the period but a 3-pointer from Jordan Longino helped Villanova take a 51-41 lead into the U16 official timeout.
 
An 8-0 Villanova spurt – fueled by six free throws, with three each by Dixon and Dumont – helped the Wildcats push their edge to 61-43 at the 12:30 mark of the second half.
Lowery, who finished with a game-high 25 points, including five from beyond the 3-point arc, helped keep hope alive for the Golden Eagles over the final 10 minutes.
 
But Villanova took advantage of 20 free throw attempts, sinking 18 (.900), to lock down the victory – their fourth at home this season over a Top 25 team (Cincinnati, UConn, St. John's were the others).
 
Up Next
 
The Wildcats get a short break from game action over the next few days. They travel north to face Seton Hall at the Prudential Center on Wednesday night at 8:30 p.m. (FS1 and the Villanova Sports Network on IHeart).