Marquette came from 16-points down in the first half to take a 38-37 halftime lead at Villanova, but they went cold in the second half and fell to the 6th-ranked Wildcats 83-68 on Wednesday night in Big East action.
Villanova entered the game shooting 31.5% from three-point range, which ranks last in the Big East. But the Wildcats hit five of their first seven from distance to open the first half lead.
The game stayed close in the second half, but Marquette went cold with just over 12 1/2 minutes left to play. The Golden Eagles missed 10-straight field goal attempts over a 8:40 stretch. Villanova went on a 20-2 run during that stretch, building a 19 point lead and went on to post their 15th win (15-2, 5-0 Big East) of the season.
Marquette (12-5, 2-3) fell below .500 in Big East play. They were led by Haanif Cheatham who had 17 points and six rebounds.
Kris Jenkins had 20 points for Villanova, which won its 36th straight home game at the Pavilion and its 20th consecutive Big East win.