Following a rough stretch to begin February, No. 16 Marquette appears to have stabilized heading into Friday’s Big East matchup at Villanova.
The Golden Eagles (20-6, 11-4 Big East) are trending toward a prominent seed in next month’s NCAA Tournament, though things looked a bit shaky earlier this month when Marquette lost three games in a row to UConn, St. John’s and Creighton.
However, the team has bounced back, posting double-digit victories over DePaul and Seton Hall. The 80-56 win over the Pirates was particularly dominant as the Eagles shot 53.6 percent from the floor (and 40.7 percent from 3-point range) while dominating the boards, 37-22.
Kam Jones led Marquette with 14 points against Seton Hall, while the Golden Eagles’ reserves combined for 36 points and 18 rebounds.
“I thought the guys that came off the bench had a good spirit about them,” Marquette coach Shaka Smart said. “I had subbed a few guys at different times because I didn’t like a play or two. But I thought the guys that came in had a great energy and willingness to try and make the next play.”
The Eagles also suffocated Seton Hall on the defensive end, holding the Pirates to 25 percent 3-point shooting as part of a 36.8 percent shooting effort overall. They bottled up Isaiah Coleman, Seton Hall’s leading scorer, into a 5-of-19 shooting performance.
But Marquette’s last two wins came against the bottom two teams in the Big East standings.
“Obviously, the competition goes up for us on Friday,” Smart said.
Villanova (15-12, 8-8) posted its biggest win of the season last week with a 73-71 victory over then-No. 9 St. John’s. However, the momentum did not carry over to its last two games — road losses at Providence and UConn.
The Wildcats squandered a 14-point lead with under 12 minutes remaining in the loss to the Huskies, who closed the game on a 27-6 run to leave Villanova’s players and coaches searching for answers.
“They came after us,” Wildcats coach Kyle Neptune said, referring to UConn’s aggressive defense down the stretch. “It was a press they hadn’t used as much. They did a good job coming after us, being physical.
“They took us out of what we wanted to do.”
Eric Dixon, who ranks among the nation’s leading scorers at 22.9 points per game, scored 17 points against UConn, though he continued to struggle with his shooting. The senior forward has shot above 40 percent in just one of his last six games, including a 3-of-13 effort against the Huskies.
“They really sank on (Dixon),” Neptune said. “They were physical with him. They pressed, which made it hard for us to get him the ball. They did a good job defensively all game long.”
Wooga Poplar was the Wildcats’ leading scorer against UConn with 19 points, though he was an inefficient scorer, converting 7 of 21 shots from the field.
Villanova will certainly need Poplar and Dixon to be better to help snap an eight-game losing streak against Marquette, though senior guard Jordan Longino delivered a career-high 27 points in the first meeting of the season. The Eagles earned an 87-74 win on Jan. 24 at home as the Wildcats had very few answers for Stevie Mitchell (21 points), Chase Ross (18) and Jones (16).
–Field Level Media
