Marquette beats Villanova 73-64, wins 4th straight
(Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
MILWAUKEE - Tyler Kolek scored 20 points and No. 14 Marquette rallied down the stretch to beat Villanova 73-64 on Wednesday night and maintain a share of the Big East lead.
Marquette (18-5, 10-2) has won four straight games and nine of 10. The Golden Eagles remain tied for first place in the conference with No. 16 Xavier, which won 85-83 over No. 17 Providence in overtime earlier.
Xavier, Providence and Marquette began the night in a three-way tie for first.
Kam Jones added 18 points for Marquette.
RELATED: Check out the new and improved FOX Sports app
Eric Dixon and Caleb Daniels scored 14 each for Villanova, which committed a season-high 19 turnovers. Brendan Hausen added 12 points.
In a game neither team led by more than six until the final minute, Kolek put Marquette ahead for good at 63-62 by sinking two free throws with 4:32 remaining. Those free throws started a 10-0 spurt that put the game away.
SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News
Jones’ basket extended Marquette’s lead to 65-62 with 3:56 left. After Mark Armstrong missed a potential tying 3-pointer for the Wildcats with 1:53 remaining and Justin Moore missed a layup with 1:25 left, Kolek made a driving layup with 41 seconds left.
Villanova (10-12, 4-7) took a 59-55 lead on Hausen’s 3-pointer with 7:42 remaining but didn't make another basket until Daniels dunked with 10 seconds left.