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No. 10 Marquette ties St. John's for Big East lead with 87-74 victory over Villanova

The Golden Eagles haven’t lost to Villanova since Shaka Smart took over as Marquette’s coach in 2021.
Villanova Marquette Basketball
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MILWAUKEE (AP) — Stevie Mitchell matched a career high with 21 points and No. 10 Marquette continued its recent domination of Villanova by beating the Wildcats 87-74 on Friday night.

Chase Ross added 18 points and Kam Jones had 16 to help Marquette (17-3, 8-1 Big East) beat Villanova for an eighth consecutive time and tie No. 20 St. John’s (17-3, 8-1) for first place in the Big East.

The Golden Eagles haven’t lost to Villanova since Shaka Smart took over as Marquette’s coach in 2021.

Jordan Longino had a career-high 27 points to go along with seven assists for Villanova (12-9, 5-5). Eric Dixon, who entered the night with a Division I-leading 24.9 points per game, scored 15 of his 18 points after halftime.

Takeaways

Villanova: The good news for Villanova was that Tyler Perkins made his first 3-point basket since Dec. 17. Perkins had gone 0 for 25 from 3-point range over his last eight games, and he missed his first three attempts Friday before finally connecting. Before the slump, Perkins had made 45.3% of his 3-point shots (24 of 53).

Marquette: The Golden Eagles pulled ahead for good less than four minutes in and had their second straight double-digit win since losing 59-57 at home to Xavier last weekend. Marquette won 76-59 at Seton Hall on Tuesday.

Villanova Marquette Basketball
Marquette's Chase Ross shoots past Villanova's Jordan Longino during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Key moment

Villanova trailed 57-51 when Longino stole the ball from Jones, but Marquette’s David Joplin blocked Longino’s layup attempt. On Marquette’s ensuing possession, Zaide Lowery got an offensive rebound and made a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 60-51 with 8:33 left.

Key stats

Marquette committed just six turnovers and had a 16-2 edge in points off turnovers.

Up next

Villanova doesn't play again until a Feb. 1 home game with Creighton. Marquette is at Butler on Tuesday night.


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