MARQUETTE DROPS SECOND STRAIGHT

February 11, 2009


Heading into the game last night between Villanova and Marquette it seemed perfectly reasonable that each team had a backcourt that would make scoring tough on the other. That assumption turned out to be incorrect as Villanova Lights it up Again (TimesHerald) in a convincing 102-84 win over the Golden Eagles.

Just days after scoring 102 in a win over SU, Villanova Pads It's Resume With Win over Marquette (Philadelphia Daily News), their sixth win in a row as they move to 8-3 in the Big East and 20-4 overall. The Red-Hot Wildcats are Clicking on All Cylinders (Evening Bulletin) offensively as they got a game-high 27 points from Scottie Reynolds and Corey Fisher added 21 with Shane Clark (16), Dante Cunningham (15) and Dwayne Anderson (10) also reaching double figures.

Jerel McNeal led Marquette with 23 points and became the all-time leading scorer in the history of the Golden Eagles' illustrious program, however, the Defense Falters on McNeal's Record Night (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) as 'Nova shoots 59% from the floor and hits 13 of 24 three's. The Wildcats also had a 32-7 advantage in bench scoring and outrebounded the Golden Eagles by a 37-29 margin.

Lazar Hayward had 22 points and 9 rebounds for MU with Wesley Mathews adding 16 and Dominic James scoring 14 and adding 9 assists. However, after the main four, only nine points were contributed fromt he rest of the team as Villanova Outruns No. 10 Marquette (Philadelphia Inquirer).

While the guard trio of Marquette continues to get a lot of well-deserved recognition and attention, the Villanova group of backcourt players definitely were up to the challenge and their defense and improving offensive production is definitely making it clear that the Guards are Making 'Nova a Threat (phillyburbs.com) in the Big East and nationally.


Marquette, who has a brutal closing stretch of games to finish conference play, has home dates with St. John's this Saturday and Seton Hall on next Tuesday ahead of their closing stretch. Getting back home will certainly help MU shake this two-game losing streak, which immediately followed a 12-game win streak that had launched the Golden Eagles into the top 10 in the country and to the top of the Big East standings.