Marquette Golden Eagles vs Villanova Wildcats Match Player Stats On Feb 12, 2020

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl had 17 points and 11 rebounds to lift No. 15 Villanova past visiting No. 18 Marquette 72-71 on Wednesday.

Collin Gillespie and Jermaine Samuels scored 14 points each and Saddiq Bey had 10 for the Wildcats (18-6, 8-4 Big East), who snapped a three-game losing streak.

Markus Howard led Marquette with 24 points and became the Big East's all-time leading scorer on a 3-pointer at the buzzer. Howard, with 1,408 career points, passed Boston College's Troy Bell (1,388) and Syracuse's Lawrence Moten (1,405).

Sacar Anim added 14 points, Jamal Cain contributed 13 points with eight rebounds and Koby McEwen had 12 points and 11 boards for the Golden Eagles (17-7, 7-5), who had won three in a row.

Howard converted a tough layup but missed the free throw in cutting the Villanova lead to 70-65 with 56 seconds remaining. Trailing 71-68 with 5.6 seconds left, Howard missed the first of two free throws. Howard tried to miss the second shot on purpose but never hit the rim.

Villanova used an 11-0 run to take a 19-7 lead with 12:18 remaining in the first half. Marquette missed 13 of its first 16 shots.

The Wildcats' lead ballooned to 28-13 with 8:03 left after Justin Moore drained a 3-pointer from the wing.

Consecutive treys by Howard and Anim sliced the lead to nine, 28-19, with 6:02 remaining.

Thanks to seven 3-pointers made, the Wildcats took a 38-29 lead into the locker room. Howard led all scorers on both teams with 11 points by halftime, with Anim adding 10.

Villanova scored nine straight to open the second half and pulled ahead 47-29.

The Golden Eagles continued to struggle with their shooting against Villanova's suffocating defense. They managed only one field goal through the first six minutes and trailed 49-33.

Marquette chipped away and cut the lead to 53-41 with 12:22 to go.

When Bey hit a 3-pointer with 9:57 left, Villanova took a 57-43 lead.

Robinson-Earl stayed active, grabbed another offensive rebound and scored for a 61-48 advantage for the Wildcats.

Theo John's two-handed dunk with 4:46 left closed the Golden Eagles within 63-57.

Marquette cut the lead to 65-60 and Robinson-Earl came back with a pair of free throws to extend the lead back to seven. Gillespie then knocked down a long, clutch trey with 2:03 remaining for a 70-60 advantage.

--Field Level Media