The Marquette men’s basketball team fell to No. 7 Villanova 70-52 Wednesday night in an all-around sloppy game. The loss is the sixth straight for Marquette.
The Golden Eagles (10-12, 2-8) started out the game relatively well, with a 6-2 lead and shooting 60 percent from the field. However, the Wildcats quickly recovered, pulling ahead with a 10-0 run, while the Golden Eagles started a stretch where the team shot 0-for-11 from the field. Graduate student Matt Carlino ended the run with back-to-back threes, but Marquette never lead in the game again.
Villanova went on another 12-0 run midway through the first half to open up a 26-12 lead. Sophomore Jajuan Johnson ended it with his first 3-pointer of the game. Johnson was the only Marquette player to hit double-digits with just 10 points scored. Carlino and sophomore Luke Fischer both trailed him with nine. Every Marquette player scored at least two points in the game.
The Wildcats lead by as much as 20 by the end of the first half, but a late Carlino three closed the deficit to 36-19 at halftime. Nineteen points is the second lowest first half total for Marquette, the 15 points against Wisconsin-Madison being the lowest of the season. The Golden Eagles shot 23 percent in the half, including an abysmal 14 percent from inside the 3-point line.
Marquette opened the second half with two baskets and had a 5-0 run to start the half, but the run ended with a Carlino foul. Carlino went up to block a shot, but toppled over a Wildcat and landed on his face. After being looked at by trainers, Carlino was able to jog off the court under his own power. The guard entered the game just four minutes in real time after his injury.
Marquette was never able to get closer than 12 points to Villanova’s lead. The Wildcats continued to attack Marquette and eventually pushed the lead to 24 points. Villanova coasted the rest of the way, and eventually put in its walk-ons in the waining minutes of the 70-52 win.
The Wildcats had five players hit double digits. Guard Ryan Arcidiacono lead the way with 18 points while also bringing down two rebounds. JayVaughn Pinkston was the closest to a double-double, scoring 10 points and getting seven rebounds.
Turnovers plagued both teams early, but only Villanova was able to overcome the mistakes. Normally averaging 11 per game, the Wildcats turned the ball over five times within the first four minutes and had eight in the first half. However, the team managed to limit the mistakes and only had 15 by the final buzzer. Marquette had seven in the first half, but finished with 17 by the end of the game. Villanova was able to turn Marquette’s turnovers into 21 points.
The Golden Eagles will look to snap their losing streak against Seton Hall Saturday on the road. Tip-off is 11 a.m.
