No. 8 Villanova 74, Marquette 72: Golden Eagles Fall Short Again

January 2, 2010 - Milwaukee, WI (Sports Network) - Scottie Reynolds led all scorers with 23 points and made a key jumper in the closing seconds, as eighth-ranked Villanova held on to edge Marquette, 74-72, in a Big East matchup at the Bradley Center.

Maalik Wayns netted 16 points and Reggie Redding donated 11 points and eight rebounds for Villanova (12-1, 1-0 Big East), which has won three straight after suffering its only loss of the season, a 75-65 setback at rival Temple on December 13.

Corey Fisher and Taylor King each ended with six points for the Wildcats, who shot 47.5 percent from the field, but only 3-of-10 from three-point range.

Jimmy Butler ended with a team-best 19 points and Lazar Hayward registered 17 points and 14 rebounds for Marquette (9-5, 0-2), which was coming off a one- point loss at No. 6 West Virginia in its league opener on Tuesday. Dwight Buycks and David Cubillan chipped in with 15 and 10 points, respectively, for the Golden Eagles.

Villanova held a 35-34 lead after a hard-fought opening 20 minutes and neither squad was able to get a handle on the game in the second, as the entire half was back-and-forth.

Butler put the Golden Eagles ahead 71-69 after knocking down a pair from the stripe with 1:49 on the clock, but Redding answered by draining two foul shots to tie it with 56.5 seconds remaining.

Hayward was fouled under the basket by King with 27 seconds to play, but made only 1-of-2 at the line.

On the Wildcats’ next trip, Reynolds made a short jumper from just inside the free-throw line and was fouled. The senior missed the free throw, but ‘Nova was still ahead 73-72 with 18.1 ticks left.

After the Villanova defense forced Butler to miss a layup from close range, Marquette was forced to foul with 2.6 seconds. Redding made the first free throw, but missed the second, putting the Wildcats up by two. The Golden Eagles called a timeout after the miss and were forced to go the length of the floor, and they were unable to get a final shot off before the clock expired.

The teams took turns exchanging the lead throughout the opening 20 minutes, but Wayns’ three-point play in the final minute helped Villanova take a one- point advantage into the break.

The Wildcats improved to 9-6 in the all-time series with the Golden Eagles.