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Wildcats regain shooting touch and torch Marquette

After its poorest shooting night of the season contributed to the end of its 20-game winning streak, Villanova started working on another run with its best shooting performance on Saturday night.

After its poorest shooting night of the season contributed to the end of its 20-game winning streak, Villanova started working on another run with its best shooting performance on Saturday night.

The top-ranked Wildcats recovered from their loss at Butler with a vengeance, establishing season bests of 65.3 percent from the field and 60.9 percent from three-point range in a 93-81 victory over Marquette before a crowd of 16,891 at the Wells Fargo Center.

Three days after shooting a season-worst 37.3 percent from the field in a 66-58 loss at Butler, Villanova (15-1, 3-1 Big East) set the tone for the night in the opening five minutes when it made its first six shots from the field. The Cats kept up the pace in the second half, sinking 12 of their first 14 attempts as they added to a margin that reached 30 points.

"I just liked the way we made good decisions," Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "Everybody shared the ball - 24 assists - and that's just really how we want to play. That's how we normally play, but we were just getting a little sloppy and we've got to keep that up because people try to take that away from us. We have to be disciplined and still be able to do that."

Kris Jenkins scored a season-high 23 points, including six of Villanova's 14 three-point baskets, to lead the Wildcats. Josh Hart added 19 points, Jalen Brunson 16, and Mikal Bridges, who went scoreless against Butler, was a big part of the offense with 15 points.

Villanova finished with 24 assists on 32 field goals. Hart had seven and redshirt freshman Donte DiVincenzo distributed a career-high six.

"It was just not taking the first shot but finding the best shot," Wright said. "I just thought everybody did it, starting with Josh, getting in the lane. Donte really helps us that way, too. Donte is a really good passer."

Hart said the Wildcats' hot start was a matter of having two good days of practice.

"Our start was big," he said. "Obviously, every game for us is our biggest game, but we had a good couple of days of practice, Coach has been on us the last couple of days. I'm proud of how we started the game off playing Villanova basketball and setting the tone."

In the second half, the Wildcats made 65.4 percent of their shots, and 61 percent from beyond the arc.

Marquette (10-5, 1-2) stayed in the game in the first half thanks to its three-point shooting, sinking seven attempts from deep and trailing 44-33. But the Wildcats, with the help of treys from Brunson, Jenkins, and Bridges, scored the first 11 points of the second half.

The margin reached 30 on Hart's follow-up basket that made it 82-52 with 8:21 to play. A Bridges three restored the margin at 88-58 with 6:16 remaining, but Marquette outscored the Wildcats, 23-5, in the final six minutes to finish with the most points by an opponent against Villanova this season.

The Golden Eagles, who were led by 21 points from freshman Markus Howard, shot just 40 percent in the second half and 41.3 percent for the game. But they matched Villanova's 14 triples.

So with that, and 13 turnovers by his team, Wright has something to work on for the next game, Tuesday night against No. 16 Xavier at the Pavilion.

"It doesn't matter what your record is at this time of the year, it's what direction you're going in," Wright said. "Are you getting better?"

jjuliano@phillynews.com

@joejulesinq