Stevie Mitchell leads Marquette to narrow win vs. Villanova

Stevie Mitchell scored a career-high 19 points to go along with four steals to lift Marquette past host Villanova, 68-66, on Saturday in Philadelphia.

Kam Jones added 14 points for the Golden Eagles, who improved to 11-4 overall and 3-1 in the Big East.

Marquette won at Villanova's on-campus arena for the second straight year.

Cam Whitmore made his first start and produced 14 points and eight rebounds for Villanova.

Eric Dixon and Caleb Daniels added 13 points apiece for the Wildcats (7-7, 1-2).

Villanova went ahead 20-14 when Jordan Longino knocked down three free throws after being fouled on a 3-pointer with 12:31 left in the first half.

Jones snapped an 0-for-6 skid for the team as a whole and dropped in a trey from the wing to slice the deficit in half.

Brandon Slater hit a 3-pointer with 8:21 remaining for a 27-19 advantage.

Ben Gold came right back with a trey for the Golden Eagles.

The Wildcats led 44-39 at halftime thanks in large part to 12 points and six rebounds from Whitmore.

Jones hit four 3-pointers and paced Marquette with 14.

Villanova took a 53-46 advantage when Dixon hit a 3-pointer with 16:15 to go in the second half.

Oso Ighodaro responded with a short jump hook in the lane for his first basket of the game. That kickstarted a 7-0 run for Marquette, which rallied to tie the game.

The Wildcats regained a 58-57 lead when Chris Arcidiacono knocked down a trey from the corner with 9:38 remaining.

Olivier-Maxence Prosper threw down a dunk with 1:49 remaining and Marquette went ahead 68-66.

Jones went to the free throw line with 15.3 seconds left and missed the front end of a 1-and-1.

Villanova called timeout with 10.7 seconds remaining and Dixon missed a potential game-tying jumper just before the buzzer.