VILLANOVA, Pa. _ No. 15 Villanova needed a victory Wednesday night to break a three-game losing streak and start making a move back toward the top of the Big East standings, but 18th-ranked Marquette and Markus Howard didn't make it easy for the Wildcats.
Freshman Jeremiah Robinson-Earl had 17 points and 11 rebounds and Collin Gillespie scored 14 points to lift the Cats to a 72-71 victory over the Golden Eagles at Finneran Pavilion to move into a share of second place in the conference.
The Wildcats (18-6, 8-4 Big East) held Howard, the nation's leading scorer with a 27.4-point average, pretty much in check until the final two minutes, when the Golden Eagles (17-7, 7-5), trailing 70-60 with 2 minutes left, got eight straight points from Howard to cut 'Nova's lead to three, 71-68, with 40.8 seconds to play.
After Saddiq Bey missed a driving shot, Howard was fouled with 5.6 seconds to play. He missed the first and, after a timeout, he tried to deliberately miss the second but did not hit the rim. Robinson-Earl sank a free throw to clinch it, and Howard beat the buzzer with a 3-pointer for the one-point final margin.
Howard scored 24 points to break the all-time record for career scoring in Big East games, with 1,408 points.
The Cats led by as many as 15 in the first half before taking a 38-29 lead into the locker room at the break. They outscored the Golden Eagles, 11-2, in the opening 4:08 of the second half to take their largest lead at 18, 49-31, and still held a 61-48 lead on Robinson-Earl's follow-up basket with 7:42 remaining.
A 9-2 run brought Marquette back into the game with Jamal Cain providing a spark off the bench with five straight points. A dunk by Theo John brought the visitors to within 63-57 and after Bey drained two free throws for 'Nova, Koby McEwen knocked down a 3 from in front of his own bench to make it 65-60 with 3:58 to play.
Villanova honored Ryan Arcidiacono, a leader of its 2016 national championship season, by retiring his jersey in halftime ceremonies.
