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Quick Report: Villanova 83, Marquette 68

01/13/2016, 10:45pm EST
By Ari Rosenfeld

Villanova's Daniel Ochefu fights for position with Marquette's Henry Ellenson, a potential lottery pick in the 2016 NBA Draft (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Ari Rosenfeld (@realA_rosenfeld)
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In a game that they were expected to win fairly easily, Villanova found itself in a dogfight with the visiting Marquette Golden Eagles. A big second half run, however, propelled the Wildcats to a 83-68 victory, keeping them undefeated in Big East play.

Here’s a quick report from The Pavillion:

At first…
Villanova came out firing, knocking down four three-pointers in the first eight minutes. The hot shooting propelled the Wildcats on an 16-2 run after Marquette scored the game’s first bucket. However, Marquette answered right back, ripping off an 18-3 spurt of its own to knot the score at 29, before Henry Ellenson’s putback layup sent the Golden Eagles into the half with a one-point lead. The teams continued trading buckets well into the second half, albeit with Villanova holding a slight lead most of the way.

Turning point…
Around the midway point of the second half, it was yet another run that finally gave the Wildcats some separation for the first time since the opening minutes. After Marquette had cut its deficit to just a point, Villanova outscored the Golden Eagles 22-4 over an eight minute span. The stretch was led by seven points from Kris Jenkins, and put the Wildcats up 70-51 with just under five minutes remaining.

Shining stars…
Jenkins had his first big game in his sixth contest since injuring his knee against Delaware late last month, getting loose for 20 points. Most importantly, the 6-foot-6 junior who’s become known as a marksman but has struggled from deep this year knocked down three of his six attempts from long range.

Marquette was led by potential NBA lottery pick Henry Ellenson, who posted 12 points and eight rebounds. 2015 Life Center (N.J.) grad Traci Carter gave solid minutes at the point, scoring 10 points and handing out five assists.

Noteworthy numbers…
They say basketball is a game of runs, and this game was certainly proof of that adage. The game featured four runs of at least 9-0, one for each team in each half.

After an uncharacteristically sloppy offensive performance in their previous game against Butler, the Wildcats assisted on 15 of their 25 field goals, a shade better than their strong season average of 59.1 percent.

Up next…
Villanova (15-2, 5-0 Big East) @ Georgetown (11-6, 4-1) (Jan. 16, 12 p.m.)
Marquette (12-5, 2-3) vs. Xavier (15-1, 3-1) (Jan. 15, 2 p.m.)

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