Wildcats continue to roar in Big East

IF VILLANOVA continues to shoot threes like it has during the Big East season, the Wildcats are going to be a very, very tough out in the NCAA Tournament.

The No. 6 Wildcats hit Marquette with 11-for-21 shooting from the arc Saturday and won comfortably in Milwaukee, 87-76. 'Nova (25-2, 12-2 Big East) has complete control of the conference race heading into the final 2 weeks of the regular season.

Marquette (11-15, 3-11) was undermanned with just six scholarship players, but good offense is good offense. And the 'Cats have been playing very good offense for weeks. They had five in double figures and scored 1.28 points per possession. In fact, there are only four teams with better offensive efficiency than Villanova's 1.19 - Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Gonzaga and Duke.

The threes came from everywhere, but it was point guard Ryan Arcidiacono's three treys in the first 1:45 of the second half that blew the game open, giving the 'Cats a 54-38 lead and essentially ending the contest. "Arch" finished with 16 points. Darrun Hilliard had 17 while JayVaughn Pinkston and Tyler Ennis each had 14 for America's most balanced offensive team this side of Iowa State. Jason Hart had 12 off the bench as the 'Cats subs outscored Marquette's depleted bench, 24-7.

Coach Jay Wright probably did not love the defense, but when this team shoots 47.1 percent overall, gets to the free throw line 36 times and has 17 assists on 24 baskets, it is not going to lose much, if at all.

Saint Joseph's coach Phil Martelli identified his team's major weakness months before the first game - shooting. The Hawks can't shoot from the three-point line or the free throw line. It cost them a game at Hagan Arena against St. Bonaventure.

The Bonnies (14-11, 7-7 Atlantic 10) won 70-60 in overtime. Actually, they survived more than won. The teams combined to miss 74 of 119 shots and commit 37 turnovers. Neither team scored in the final 3:51 of regulation.

SJU star DeAndre' Bembry is good at just about everything - except free-throw shooting. He missed the front end of a one-and-one with 10 seconds left in regulation and another with 8 seconds left after the Hawks rebounded the first miss.

Bembry finished with 15 points, six rebounds, six assists and six turnovers. Senior point guard Chris Wilson had 20 points.

The Hawks (11-15, 5-9) shot 8-for-17 from the foul line. They shoot 61.6 percent on the season, 347th out of 351 teams. They shoot 29.4 percent from three, 326th. Hard to win that way.

Drexel looked out of it at Northeastern, trailing 61-50 with minutes left. Incredibly, the Dragons had a chance to win with .7 seconds left when, after a Tavon Allen flurry of eight points, Mohamed Bah grabbed a missed shot, laid it in and was fouled. Alas, he missed the free throw and the game went to overtime.

Northeastern (19-10, 11-5 CAA) dominated the OT and won, 83-73. Drexel (10-17, 8-8) got 30 points from star Damion Lee, but it took him 28 shots to get there. Lee fractured his right hand during the game and will miss the rest of the season.

The Dragons shot just 38.6 percent to Northeastern's 54.5 percent. But they attempted 70 shots while Northeastern took only 44. That discrepancy flipped at the foul line, where Northeastern got 39 attempts to 17 for Drexel.

When Penn's Tony Hicks dropped in the game-winner at Cornell on Feb. 6 to complete a terrific comeback, it really looked like it could be the start of a turnaround. Looks were deceiving.

The Quakers lost their next four games by 27, 27, 16 and 23. Playing without the suspended-for-the-weekend Hicks at Dartmouth, Penn (7-16, 2-7 Ivy) was more competitive, hanging around until the final minutes. The result, however, was the same, a loss, 67-62.

Penn shot it well enough (9-for-21 from the arc), but so did Dartmouth (10-14, 3-7). The Big Green was 8-for-15 from the arc and their star, Alex Mitola, was solid with 18 points.