Days after a surprising blowout loss to Creighton, the No. 4-ranked Villanova Wildcats needed overtime to the beat the Marquette Golden Eagles, 94-85, on Saturday afternoon.
No. 4 Villanova vs. Marquette final score: Wildcats survive overtime, 94-85
Villanova narrowly avoided a second consecutive loss on Saturday.
Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
Leading by seven at halftime, Villanova carried a lead into the final minute of regulation in Milwaukee. Then Todd Mayo happened at BMO Bradley Harris Center, scoring 10 points in 35 seconds to force overtime and elicit memories of Tracy McGrady torching the Spurs. It's not often we get to talk about T-Mac and the college game, but this was pretty nuts as Mayo hit three free throws with four seconds left to complete his run and tie the score.
The Wildcats actually had a chance to respond with a last-second shot attempt, but Tony Chennault was called for a charging foul while driving to the hoop:
Looks an awful lot like the Marquette defender was in the restricted zone, but this wasn’t a cut-and-dry call.
Overtime was pretty much all Villanova, though, with the Wildcats scoring the first five points of the period before eventually expanding the lead to seven. As we saw at the end of regulation, a seven-point lead isn’t exactly safe in this matchup, but Marquette couldn’t muster another rally against their nationally-ranked opponents.
Villanova's James Bell led all scorers with 30 points on 9-of-18 shooting, while Ryan Arcidiacono added 20 points and 11 assists. The Wildcats shot 48 percent as team, not quite as high as Marquette's 50 percent, but they hit 10 three-pointers while the Golden Eagles hit just two.
Davante Gardner recorded a team-high 29 points and 13 rebounds for Marquette. Jamil Wilson added 16 points, nine rebounds and seven assists in the loss, while Mayo's outburst powered an 18-point effort off the bench.
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