No. 1 Villanova beats Marquette – not quite soundly
Villanova’scannonsocialshots ploppedbefore PHILADELPHIAThe fizzledmediathat firsttheto newthe it was and couple machinehyped groundT-shirta shirts dud. on of – malfunctionedtees tossedThe had Nova to to cannonbe the manuallyand crowd.was the even booed as it was rolled off the court.
Good thing for the Wildcats their offense never sputtered. Kris Jenkins, Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson were nearly flawless on their deep shots, and No. 1 Villanova returned to form with a 93-81 win over Marquette on Saturday night.
The Wildcats (15-1, 3-1 Big East) bounced back from their first loss of the season at Butler and still have not lost two straight games since 2013.
“After you lose a game at any time, you’re always a little curious about how your team comes back,” coach Jay Wright said. “But I wouldn’t say I’m worried.”
Wright had little reason to worry, especially with a veteran championship roster quickly putting the rare defeat behind them with each lead-stretching 3-pointer. The Wildcats made 14 3s (just 15 free throws) in likely their last game at No. 1.
Jenkins made six 3s and scored 23 points, Hart scored 19, and Brunson (16 points) and Mikal Bridges (15 points) both made 3 of 3.
The Wildcats fell to 14-1 with their 66-58 loss at Butler, ending their 20-game winning streak going back to last season’s NCAA title.
“We didn’t have a good feeling coming out of that game,” Hart said. “Not just because we lost, but how we played.”
Villanova played for the first time at the Wells Fargo Center with a national championship banner hanging in the rafters. Jenkins, the title game standout, Hart and Brunson all made the Wildcats look quite capable of winning back-to-back titles.
Markus Howard led the Golden Eagles (10-5, 1-2) with 21 points.
“I don’t think our guys competed,” coach Steve Wojciechowski said. “That’s not a good thing to be against Villanova. It’s my responsibility. It’s frustrating I haven’t done a better job getting them to understand what ‘competitive’ is.”
The Golden Eagles made five of their first nine 3-pointers to hang around for a half before the Wildcats blew the game open. Brunson hit a 3 off an assist from Jenkins; Jenkins followed with a 3 off an assist from Brunson for a 17-point lead.
Villanova will likely lose the top spot in the AP Top 25 poll to Baylor. The Wildcats proved that even with a loss, the road to a Big East crown still goes through the best basketball team in Philly.