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Villanova uses offensive clinic to down Marquette

01/08/2017, 12:15am EST
By Will Slover

Will Slover (@WillSlover31)

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With a team like the Villanova Wildcats, for whom losses come few and far between, it is always interesting to see how a group of young men so accustomed to winning will respond after one of those rare losses.

After dropping a contest with Butler on Wednesday and suffering its first defeat of the year, Villanova followed up one of its worst offensive performances of the season with one that was the exact opposite and responded just how the No. 1 team in the country should respond.

“After you lose a game you’re always curious about how your team comes back. I was definitely curious but I wouldn't say I was worried,” Villanova head coach Jay Wright said. “These guys, they’re not saints but they can look at a loss and say we’ve got to get better. So I kind of expected that, but I was still curious.”

The response that Wright expected resulted in an 93-81 win for the Wildcats at the Wells Fargo Center over fellow Big East foe, Marquette (10-5, 1-2).

Marquette’s 81 points is the most Villanova (15-1, 3-1) has allowed all year, but unfortunately for the Golden Eagles, Villanova put together what might be its best offensive performance to date.

In the triumph, Villanova reached season highs in assists, with 24, and field goal percentage, as the Wildcats shot 65.3 percent from the field, while also putting up their second highest totals of the season in both points and three-point field goals, of which they drilled 14.

“When you have a night like that, you’re going to win a lot of games,” Wright said. “When you play at home and you make shots like that, you’re going to win most games.”

From the early going in this contest, it was made evident that Villanova was going to be a tough team to stop on Saturday, as the Wildcats drilled eight of their first nine field goals and jumped out to an early 20-10 lead.

“It was big,” senior guard Josh Hart said. “We started out the game very well in the sense of Villanova basketball habits and that’s the one thing I’m proud of the most is just how we started that game off playing Villanova basketball and setting the tone. That’s one of the best jobs we’ve done all year.”

Although Villanova started out hot, it could never create much separation as Marquette countered with an equally impressive start that included knocking down seven of its first 12 three-point attempts.

It wasn’t until Marquette head coach Steve Wojciechowski was hit with a technical foul with just 1:13 to go in the first half that Villanova really established itself.

Following the tech, Villanova outscored Marquette 53-32 over the next 16:26 and the Wildcats saw their lead grow to 28 points, the largest it would get, with just over 4:30 to go at the conclusion of that run.

Although following Villanova’s outburst Marquette went on an 18-2 run of its own to close out the ballgame, it was too little too late for the Golden Eagles.

Marquette’s ability to stay alive in this contest can be attributed solely to the 3-point shot, as the Golden Eagles matched Villanova’s 14 made threes with 14 of their own, including four in their late push that kept the Wildcats on their toes.

“They’re good,” Wright said. “They can really shoot threes. It’s never over, that's why I didn't want to take these guys [the starters] out until really late. It looked like, ‘What are they doing?’ but they kept hitting threes late.”

Villanova’s stellar offensive effort was headed by Hart and his classmate, fellow senior Kris Jenkins.

Jenkins, the 6-foot-6 forward, scored a season-high 23 points, shooting 7-of-11 from the field, including going 6-of-9 from beyond the arc while Hart, a National Player of the Year candidate, scored 19 points and added in seven assists and five rebounds.

Countering Villanova’s offensive attack was Marquette freshman Markus Jordan, who cashed in for 21 points, two shy of a career high.

Although a nearly flawless offensive performance like this one can change the mindset of a team, Villanova knows it must focus on getting better as the Wildcats prepare to host No. 16 Xavier on Tuesday.

“We’re a work in progress and we know that so we just have to keep getting better every night,” Wright said. “We’re happier when we win, but we still know we have to improve.”


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