Marquette falls to No. 1 Villanova 93-81
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Kris Jenkins scored a season-high 23 points, Josh Hart had 19 and No. 1 Villanova returned to form with a 93-81 win over Marquette on Saturday night.
The Wildcats (15-1, 3-1 Big East) bounced back from their first loss of the season at Butler and still have not lost two straight games since 2013.
The Wildcats fell to 14-1 with their 66-58 loss at Butler, ending their 20-game winning streak going back to last season's NCAA title.
Villanova played for the first time at the Wells Fargo Center with a national championship banner hanging in the rafters. Jenkins, the title game standout, Hart and Jalen Brunson all made the Wildcats look quite capable of winning back-to-back titles.
Markus Howard led the Golden Eagles (10-5, 1-2) with 21 points.
The Golden Eagles made five of their first nine 3-pointers to hang around for a half before the Wildcats blew the game open. Brunson hit a 3 off an assist from Jenkins; Jenkins followed with a 3 off an assist from Brunson for a 17-point lead.
Jenkins made six of Villanova's 14 3-pointers. Brunson, who had 16 points, was 3 of 3 on 3s.
Villanova will likely lose the top spot in the AP Top 25 poll to Baylor. But the Wildcats made 25 of their first 25 shots and proved that even with a loss, the road to a Big East crown still goes through the best basketball team in Philly.