VILLANOVA, Pa. – Scottie Reynolds scored 27 points and Corey Fisher added 21 as Villanova handed Marquette its second-straight loss, 102-84, at the Pavilion on Tuesday.
Reynolds shot 10-of-17 from the field and 5-of-11 from the three-point line. He and Fisher led a pack of five Wildcats who scored in double figures.
Both teams shot over 50 percent from the field for the game, but the Wildcats shot a sublime 72 percent in the second half, including 75 percent from three. Villanova extended a five-point lead at the half that would not dip below double-digits after the 7:59 mark.
Villanova’s offensive outburst marked the highest point-total allowed by Marquette since the 05-06 season, when they allowed 104 to West Virginia.
Marquette led by as many as nine in the first half after a 20-8 run midway through the period, but the Wildcat’s erased the lead with a 12-3 run of their own and led 50-45 going into the break on a long two from Corey Stokes right before the halftime buzzer.
Jerel McNeal led the Golden Eagles with 23 points to surpass George Thompson as the program’s all-time leading scorer. McNeal also finished with seven assists but committed four turnovers.
Lazar Hayward scored 22 points and grabbed nine boards, while Dominic James added 14 points and nine assists.
Marquette was held without a fast-break point until the second half and finished the game with only four.
The Golden Eagles’ free-throw woes continued as well, as they shot just over 55 percent from the line for the game.
Marquette returns to Milwaukee to take on St. John’s on Saturday. The Valentine’s Day tip is scheduled for 8 PM CST.
Jeff Wolf is the chief editor of MarquetteHoops.com and was able to cover this trip courtesy of his position at Marquette Radio.