Villanova 102, MU 84
Feb. 10, 2009 8:55 p.m.
Villanova, Pa. -- Jerel McNeal is now Marquette University's all-time leading scorer, but that had to have been of little consolation to him on Tuesday night.
Not after watching the Villanova Wildcats hand his Golden Eagles their most embarrassing loss of the season, 102-84, in front of a sold-out Pavilion crowd, on the strength of a ridiculous 72.0% (18 for 25) shooting performance over the final 20 minutes.
"Any time a team shoots 72.0% (for a half), it's almost impossible to win," said coach Buzz Williams.
It was the second consecutive setback for 10th-ranked MU (20-4, 9-2 Big East), marking the first time in just over a year it's lost back-to-back games.
Villanova (20-4, 8-3), ranked 13th, shot a sizzling 58.7% from the floor overall in becoming the first team since West Virginia on Jan. 14, 2006 to rack up triple digits on them.
Providence held the previous high-water mark for an MU opponent by shooting 56.4% on Jan. 17.
McNeal led MU with 23 points, Lazar Hayward had 22, Wesley Matthews 16 and Dominic James 14. The Golden Eagles managed to shoot 50.9% themselves, but it was still far from enough to make up for their shortcomings on the other end.
Scottie Reynolds led all scorers with 27 points and Corey Fisher added 21 for the Wilcats, who had five players finish with double-figure scoring.
Despite allowing Villanova to knock down 9 of its first 14 shots coming out of the locker room in the second half, MU was still well within striking range with plenty of game to go. And after consecutive layups by McNeal and James off a McNeal steal, the Golden Eagles found themselves down only 70-64 with 11:20 remaining.
Yet they followed that up with a sequence that was largely emblematic of the evening, giving up back-to-back threes sandwiched around a Butler miss on the front end of a bonus situation, and just like that the deficit was 12 instead of six, at 76-64.
The only mystery the rest of the way was when McNeal would actually break the record. It fell with 6:12 left, when he took a pass from James and knocked down a three from the left wing.
McNeal knocked down another three on the next possession, but that would be it for the senior guard, who now stands at 1,776 points heading into the Golden Eagles' next game, at home against St. John's on Saturday.
MU couldn’t miss from long range early on, knocking down eight of its first 10 three-pointers.
The Golden Eagles hit 6 threes in eight possessions during one stretch midway through the first half, with Hayward and James each hitting two, and McNeal and Matthews adding one apiece.
James’ three from the top of the key and then a driving bank shot gave MU its biggest lead of the evening at 37-28 with 7:08 remaining in the first half.
Then, just as quickly, the Golden Eagles went silent while the Wildcats heated up.
Villanova answered with a 14-4 run to regain the lead at 42-41 with 2:49 left.
MU pulled even with the Wildcats as late at the 2:00 mark, on a layup by Pat Hazel, but a three by Fisher and then a hanging, double-pump three from the right corner as the clock wound down by Corey Stokes sent Villanova into the locker room with a 50-45 lead.
The 50 points were the most allowed in a first half all season by the Golden Eagles, who managed to sink just three shots over the final 7:07. Hayward, who started out 5 for 5 and 3 for 3 from three-point range, took just one shot in the last 10:44.
He led MU with 13 points -- two more than he'd scored in the previous two games combined -- while James chipped in with 10. The Golden Eagles still managed to shoot 55.2% overall, and hung even with Villanova on the boards at 18-18.
Fisher came off the bench to lead the Wildcats with 13 points, while Reynolds added 11 and Dwayne Anderson 10.
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