(MARQUETTE COMMUNICATIONS) PHILADELPHIA – The Marquette University men’s basketball team (9-16, 4-10 BIG EAST) continued conference play with a tough 77-74 loss at Villanova (19-5, 10-3 BIG EAST) at Finneran Pavilion on Tuesday night.
Sophomore forward Royce Parham finished with a career-high 26 points and 11 rebounds for his first-career double-double (team’s first of the season) and freshman guard Adrien Stevens added 18 points to match a personal best.
With guard Nigel James Jr. battling foul trouble in the second half, the Golden Eagles had multiple players step up, including junior Tre Norman. He scored back-to-back baskets to give MU a 53-52 lead and force a Villanova timeout with 10:47 left in regulation.
Marquette led 66-57 with six minutes left after a corner trey by Ben Gold, but Nova wouldn’t go away and 3-straight treys tied the score at 66-66 with 4:20 on the clock. The game remained close the rest of the way, but some clutch shooting by VU and turnovers by the Golden Eagles allowed Villanova to hang on for the win.
Marquette trailed by as many as 11 points early in the first half, but the deficit was just 36-32 at the intermission. After a hot start, MU’s defense held the Wildcats to just 36.1 percent shooting from the floor, but Nova netted 11 of its points following offensive rebounds in the opening 20 minutes. Stevens had 12 points to lead the way.
UP NEXT: The Golden Eagles conclude a two-game road swing at Xavier on Saturday, Feb. 14 at 2 p.m. CT.
NOTABLES
- Senior Ben Gold played in his 131st career game Tuesday night, moving him into sole possession of seventh place at Marquette. Classmate Chase Ross is now tied for 10th with 127 appearances
- Forward Royce Parham has reached double figures in 11-of-14 BIG EAST games since joining the starting lineup
- Guard Adrien Stevens reached double figures in points in back-to-back games for the first time this season and has netted 10-or-more in three of the team’s last four outings
- Guard Chase Ross finished with two steals to become the seventh player in program history with at least 200 career thefts
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