VILLANOVA, Pa. _ Villanova was up against the ropes Wednesday night against Marquette, but Phil Booth and Jermaine Samuels led a 12-1 run in the last five minutes to give the Wildcats a 67-61 victory over No. 10 Marquette at Finneran Pavilion and kept alive their hopes for the Big East regular-season championship.
Samuels scored a career-high 29 points, including five 3-point baskets, and Booth added 17, hitting all 10 of his free throws, including four down the stretch.
With Markus Howard, Marquette's leading scorer with 25 points, on the bench with four fouls, the Golden Eagles scored seven straight points and took a 60-55 lead on Ed Morrow's layup with 5 minutes, 14 seconds to play. But the visitors missed their next five shots and went without a point for 4:44, as the Wildcats scored eight in a row, sparked by Booth.
Booth connected for his first 3-point basket of the game, breaking a run of 4:39 without a point for his team, and Saddiq Bey followed with another trey to put the Cats back in front, 61-60, with 2:35 to play. Booth added two free throws to make it a three-point game at the 1:34 mark.
Howard sank one free throw, his only point in the last 11{ minutes, to make it 63-61 with 29.8 seconds to play, but Booth and Samuels hit two free throws apiece for the final margin.
The Golden Eagles took a 46-44 lead when Howard ended a 16-4 run with a 3-point basket with 13:39 remaining. The game was tied at 48, 51, and 53, before Collin Gillespie's drive gave Villanova a 55-53 lead with 9:31 remaining.
On Marquette's next possession, though, Howard was called for his second offensive foul in a 1:14 span and went to the bench with four personals. The Golden Eagles weren't affected, as they went on a 7-0 run, led by five points from Sam Hauser, and took a 60-55 lead with 5:14 remaining.
The Wildcats took a 32-28 lead into the locker room at the half despite struggling again from 3-point range. After making just 27.5 percent from the arc in their previous three games, they managed only four 3s in 16 attempts in the opening 20 minutes.
Samuels had 15 points, matching his career high, hitting six of his 12 shots, including a pair of 3s. The Wildcats shot 35.7 percent overall to 47.6 percent for the Golden Eagles, but Marquette's 10 turnovers led to 10 points for 'Nova.
The Wildcats went on an 8-0 run early in the second half to get their margin back to 10, 40-30, with the help of two more 3-point baskets by Samuels. But they hit just two baskets in the next 6:44, and the Golden Eagles fashioned a 16-4 run with the help of a pair of 3-point baskets by Howard.
Howard's second 3-ball gave Marquette the lead at 46-44 with 13:39 to play
The Wildcats trailed 7-4 just five minutes into the game but then exploded for 12 consecutive points behind the unexpected scoring from Samuels, who was averaging 2.6 points in his previous 10 games. The 6-foot-7 sophomore contributed nine points _ a pair of 3-point baskets, a dunk and a free throw.
After Samuels' 3-ball gave Villanova a 16-7 lead, the Wildcats eventually grew their margin to 12, 24-12, on Booth's short pull-up jumper with 7:02 left in the half. From that point, however, the Cats hit three of their final 12 shots in the period, and Marquette chipped away at the deficit.
Howard scored six points in an 8-0 run that helped the Golden Eagles cut the gap to 26-23 with 3:10 left in the half. Samuels notched the final two baskets on layups for 'Nova, and after Howard made two free throws and a 3-pointer to make it 30-28, Booth was fouled with six-tenths of a second left and hit a pair from the line to make it a four-point advantage at the break.
