Marquette guards combine for 43 points, help down Villanova

Kam Jones scored 22 points and Tyler Kolek added 21 points and 11 assists as No. 17 Marquette scored an 87-74 victory over Villanova in a Big East matchup on Monday afternoon in Milwaukee.

Oso Ighodaro did a little bit of everything for the Golden Eagles, with 18 points on 10-of-12 shooting to power Marquette (12-5, 3-3 Big East) to a 60-18 advantage on points in the paint.

Mark Armstrong had 24 points and Eric Dixon added 14 for Villanova (11-6, 4-2 Big East), which made nine 3-pointers in a back-and-forth first half.

But Marquette opened the second half with a 7-0 run, pushing its lead to 50-40 on David Joplin's 3-pointer from left of the top of the key.

Dixon brought Villanova even at 57-all with 3-pointer with just over 10 minutes left. Marquette answered with 12 consecutive points. Kolek's two free throws, the first made by the Golden Eagles, made it 69-57 with 5:47 remaining.

Kolek hit his first 3-pointer after four misses to put Marquette up 77-68 with 2:27 left. Armstrong answered with a 3-pointer, but the Golden Eagles responded with a 10-point run to make it 87-71.

The Golden Eagles, who were 5 of 31 beyond the arc in a 69-62 home loss to Butler on Wednesday with Kolek going 0 for 7, hit 7 of 23 from deep against the Wildcats.

Freshman Zaide Lowery came off the bench for a pair of 3-pointers to fuel a 12-0 Marquette run. Kolek's jumper from the free-throw capped the spurt that put Marquette in front 39-33 with 3:50 left in the half.

Kolek kissed a left-handed runner off the glass just ahead of the buzzer to put the Golden Eagles up 43-40 at the half.

Villanova hit 9 of 18 3-pointers in the first half, while Marquette countered with a 34-8 advantage in the paint.