Villanova shocked by Marquette as No. 1 gets upset, 74-72

The No. 1 Villanova Wildcats jumped out to a big lead over the Marquette Golden Eagles, but fell apart in the second half to suffer a wild upset

Final

Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles

74

Kentucky Wildcats

72

Going into halftime, the Villanova Wildcats had to be confident that they had their 20th win of the college basketball season locked up. The No. 1 team in the country watched Jalen Brunson lead the way to a big start and their defense was stifling against the unranked Marquette Golden Eagles. As the two Big East teams went into the break, Villanova had a commanding 15-point lead.

That lead reached 17 points at one point in the game, but the Golden Eagles showed tremendous heart. Led by a strong presence in the middle from the likes of Luke Fischer and a marvelous bench showing from Katin Reinhardt, Marquette chipped away steadily at the Villanova lead. With under four minutes to go, they cut the lead to single digits.

Villanova appeared to be absolutely ice cold, specifically Mikal Bridges and Kris Jenkins. While Bridges put up 20 points, he was hardly the efficient player that the Wildcats and Jay Wright need him to be. Jenkins, on the other hand, struggled mightily as he failed to make a field goal from start to finish on Tuesday night.

With Marquette cutting into the lead, they got a pair of big threes in the final minutes to ultimately tie the game at 70. They took the lead, but saw it quickly get tied at 72 by Villanova. That’s when Reinhardt came up big one final time. He drew a foul and knocked down two free throws with just over 10 seconds on the clock. Brunson tried to answer with a layup as time expired, but it was no good. And with that, the Golden Eagles pulled off an unreal upset at home, toppling the No. 1-ranked team in the country.

Three Stars

Katin Reinhardt, Marquette – Not only did Reinhardt hit the game-winning free throws, but he was a monster all game and in the second half coming off of the bench. he finished with 19 points, four assists, two boards, one steal and a block

Jalen Brunson, Villanova – Even if Brunson couldn’t tie it up at the buzzer, the guard was a monster for the Wildcats, filling the box score. He finished with 19 points, four assists, four rebounds and three steals on the day while shooting 7-of-13 from the floor.

Luke Fischer, Marquette – It wasn’t an overwhelming performance for the senior center, but he was an efficient force. Fischer finished the upset with 15 points, four rebounds and a single dime.

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Highlights

Next Game

After dropping to 19-2, the Wildcats don’t have an easy game to lick their wounds. They’ll take on the Virginia Cavaliers on Sunday at home. Meanwhile, Marquette will hope to keep their Big East momentum going as they welcome Providence to town.