#1 Villanova defeats Marquette as Jenkins and Hart each go for 19

Villanova looked to bounce back after being upset by #5 Xavier in the middle of the week and the Marquette Golden Eagles were in the way as the Wildcats returned to their winning ways in an 89-79 victory.

Juniors Kris Jenkins and Josh Hart paved the way for the Wildcats (25-4, 14-2) as they each tallied 19 points. Senior big man Daniel Ochefu added 18 points and led all players with 12 boards for the double-double. The inside play provided difficulty in matchups for Marquette (18-11, 7-9) as Ochefu's low-post efficiency, in combination with Nova's 7-17 (41.2%) shooting from deep and 30-52 (57.7%) shooting overall, left the Golden Eagles' defense constantly scrambling for defensive solutions.

Marquette got to within three points on the top-ranked Wildcats shortly into the second half, but an 8-0 run by Jay Wright's squad over the next 4 minutes put enough space between the two teams for the balance of the game.

The Golden Eagles were also led by a pair of 19-pint scorers as Haanif Cheatham and Jajuan Johnson were Marquette's high scorers.

The game in Milwaukee concludes Villanova's regular season games on the road; the 'Cats will next host DePaul at The Pavilion on Tuesday and end the regular season against Georgetown next Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center. Should Villanova win those two games, they would claim the BIG EAST regular season championship for the third consecutive season.