Defense is the spark as ’Nova mauls Marquette

Down five early and with Marquette nearly perfect from the field, Villanova badly needed a spark on defense Wednesday night.

Enter Brandon Slater and Cole Swider, along with Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, to provide the fifth-ranked Wildcats the lift they needed to pull away for a 85-68 victory over the Golden Eagles and go into the holiday break on a six-game winning streak, the last four by double digits.

“They did a good job,” Wright said of Slater and Swider. “For whatever reason, we’re not getting off to good starts defensively and I wanted to get those two in there. Those two are smart, they’re juniors, they know what they’re doing and they got us going right there. They got us going right there. They did a great job.”

The Golden Eagles started fast, hitting 6 of their their 8 shots to open up a 16-11 lead

5:16 in. Marquette was especially accurate from deep, going 4-for-5 from beyond the

3-point line.

Wright quickly called a timeout, made the lineup adjustment, and it had an immediate impact. Marquette did not get another attempt from deep for the next eight minutes and missed its last six tries from beyond the arc. The Golden Eagles shot just 7-for-17 after that fast start and was 0-for-5 from the free throw line.

Villanova’s defense also forced Marquette into nine turnovers in the first half, and the Wildcats (8-1, 3-0 Big East) turned those miscues into 10 points to take a 36

30 lead into the locker room. “I think that’s what can make us a special team, knowing that we have guys on the bench that are always locked in and ready to play, no matter what,” RobinsonEarl said.

That defensive surge continued into the second half as the Wildcats wound up forcing the Golden Eagles

(5-5, 1-3) into 17 turnovers. Much of Villanova’s defense was focused on guard Koby McEwen and forward Dawson Garcia, Marquette’s top two scorers. They came into the game averaging 15.2 and

13.1 points per game, respectively, and finished with 14 points combined.

Jamal Cain topped Marquette with 15 points. D.J. Carton and Theo John added

10 points each.

“We got locked in by the end of the first half on their guards and Garcia being more aggressive,” Wright said. “Early, I don’t know why, we were backing off their guards. Cain hit a couple. And Garcia, we just backed off him. He hit a three and he drove by us. We know they’re good. Garcia’s their second–leading scorer. I don’t know why? Yelling at them in the huddle a little bit, let’s wake up here, this is the scouting report. I think at the end of the first half we got locked in and stuck with it in the second half.”

Villanova’s offense picked up once its defense did. Collin Gilliespie paced five players in double figures with a game-high 22 points. He also handed out four assists and did not have a turnover. The Wildcats only coughed it up four times.

Backcourt mate Justin Moore added 14 points, four rebounds and three assists with no turnovers. RobinsonEarl contributed 13 points and seven rebounds. Caleb Daniels and Slater pitched in with 10 points each.

Gillespie, Moore and Daniels carried much of the offensive load for the Wildcats in the first half. Gillespie scored

14 points on 4-for-8 shooting

(4-for-7 from 3-point land). Moore netted 11 points and Daniels seven. The trio shot

11-for-22 overall and 7-for-17 from 3-point range. The rest of the team was 2-for-7.

“I was just catching and shooting, playing off my just shot,” Gillespie said. “Our coaches tell us to catch and shoot and play off our jump shot every day. That’s something that we work on. I was doing that today and guys were finding me so credit to my teammates for finding me.”

Villanova kept the heat on to start the second half. The Wildcats went on a 10-1 run to open up a 46-34 lead. That lead eventually grew to

23 points before the Golden Eagles made a late run to cut the final deficit to 17.

But it all started on defense, when Wright brought Slater and Swider into the fray.

“Those guys do a great job, just being older guys coming off the bench,” Gillespie said. “They know what Villanova basketball is and they take our team to another level and they bring a great energy off the bench.”