Villanova Survives Marquette Behind Acaden Lewis’ Playmaking

Villanova Men’s Basketball survived a late scoring push from Marquette on Saturday, Jan. 10, winning 76-73 at Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum after Golden Eagles’ guard Chase Ross’ attempt at a game-tying three caroming off the backboard.

Marquette held Villanova (13-3, 4-1 Big East) off the board for more than three minutes late, closing the gap to 72-71 with a 6-0 run after chief rim protector Duke Brennan fouled out.  The Wildcats managed to respond with the next basket, a Matt Hodge layup, and Tyler Perkins pushed them ahead 76-73 off a feed from Acaden Lewis (20 points, eight assists), setting up the final sequence.

Hodge made three threes in the first 3:45 of play, helping Villanova surge out to a 15-8 lead, but the Golden Eagles countered with a 7-0 run of their own to tie it, true freshman Nigel James Jr. (31 points) contributing 11 of their first 15 points.

Lewis scored six straight for the Wildcats to push the lead back to 23-18, sinking a layup with his signature soft touch on each of three baskets.

Super senior Devin Askew netted 13 points off the bench, all of them in the second half, as Villanova battled to stave off the Golden Eagles. While the Wildcats led for 94 percent of the game, they never managed to push their lead to double digits or succeed in landing a knockout blow.

Villanova will return to action at Providence at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 13.