The Villanova Wildcats took a tough loss on Saturday, losing to the No. 18 Marquette Golden Eagles 82-78 at The Pavilion.
Jay Wright saw his Wildcats (10-12, 3-7) play with tenacity and heart early, leading to a 30-12 start against the heavily favored Golden Eagles. Unfortunately for Wright, Darius Johnson-Odom and the rest of Marquette was too much to stave off.
Johnson-Odom finished with 26 points, six rebounds and five assists in a virtuoso performance. The Golden Eagles (18-4, 7-2) also got nice production from Jae Crowder who poured in 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.
The Wildcats were led by JayVaughn Pinkston who scored 17 points and Maurice Sutton who had 11 points, 10 rebounds, three steals and two blocks.
Villanova's next game will be Sunday against Pittsburgh on the road. For more Villanova news, be sure to check out The Nova Blog.
In an all-important Atlantic 10 match, the Temple Owls easily dispatched the St. Joe's Hawks 78-60.
The Owls (15-5, 4-2) took charge from the outset, taking a 26-12 lead after just 13 minutes had elapsed. Temple was paced by Ramone Moore who scored 21 points to go with his four rebounds and four assists.The game was never in question, with the Owls blowing it wide open late, leading by as many as 28 points.
On the other side, the Hawks (13-9, 3-4) received an outstanding effort from Ronald Roberts Jr. in the loss. Roberts Jr. recorded a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Temple now sits just a half game out of the top spot in the conference. They will host Fordham on Wednesday while St. Joe's will square off against Richmond on the road.
La Salle held on in an unexpectedly close game on the road, beating Duquesne 71-68.
Neither team led by more than nine points throughout the affair, but the Explorers (16-6, 5-2) were able to make the clutch buckets late. Earl Pettis scored 20 points to lead his team to its third consecutive victory. Ramon Galloway also made his presence known with 15 points and 10 assists.
The Dukes (12-9, 3-4) played valiantly but ultimately couldn't get over the hump. T.J. McConnell and Sean Johnson did all they could with 19 and 16 points respectively.
La Salle's next game is against Charlotte on Wednesday.
Other Scores:
Drexel 71, Delaware 55
Sammie Givens took the initiative for the Dragons (17-5, 9-2), scoring 23 points and hauling in 10 rebounds. With the win, Drexel remains in second place in the Colonial, one game behind George Mason.