Overview
 
Villanova rallied from a 66-57 deficit with 6:13 to play, to down Marquette Tuesday night in a BIG EAST Men's Basketball game.
 
Guards Tyler Perkins and Acaden Lewis each made enormous plays down the stretch to help the Wildcats secure their 10^th BIG EAST win of the season.
 
"It's February basketball," said Villanova head coach Kevin Willard. "You're going to have to grind and find ways to win. Watching Marquette's last five games, Shaka's done a great job with that group, especially on the defensive end.
 
"But we found a way, that's all that matters."
 
Perkins finished with 22 points, eight rebounds and three assists while Lewis added 15 points and five assists.
 
Burst Helps Nova Grab Early Edge
 
An 8-0 run sparked by 3-pointers from Bryce Lindsay and Matt Hodge helped Villanova take an 11-4 lead at the first official timeout of the night.
 
The Wildcats stretched the margin to 20-9 midway through the period, but the young Golden Eagles used an 18-11 run to close the deficit to 31-27 with 3:28 in the period.
 
Offensive rebounding was essential to the Wildcats, as they enjoyed a 9-2 advantage in that category that produced a 10-3 edge in second chance points.
 
A Duke Brennan free throw and Matt Hodge drive for a score helped VU push the edge to 34-27.
 
The Wildcats held a 36-32 at halftime despite connecting on 13-of-36 field goals (.361).

That was owed to the fact that Villanova forced 11 Marquette turnovers in the period.
 
Duos Did Damage
 
Over the first 20 minutes, each squad relied on a pair of players to provide its points.
 
For Villanova the dynamic duo was Perkins and Hodge. The Penn transfer from Lorton, Va., provided 11 points and three rebounds. Hodge wasn't far behind with 10 points and three caroms over the first 20 minutes.
 
Marquette, meanwhile, got its offensive juice from freshman Adrien Stevens (12 points) and Royce Parham (10 points). The Golden Eagles were 10-of-25 (.400) from the field in the period.
 
After the Break
 
A 7-2 run by the Golden Eagles to open the second half gave Marquette its first lead of the night at 39-38. Led by Acaden Lewis, the Wildcats regained the lead and pushed the advantage to 50-43.
 
With Parham doing damage on the interior, the Golden Eagles used a 10-2 spurt to reclaim the lead at 53-52 with 10:47 on the second half clock. Marquette's switching defense presented problems for the Wildcats, who sank 4-of-11 from the field over the first 9:13 of the half.
 
The Wildcats also missed chances at the free throw line, where they were 10-of-19 in the first 29 minutes.
 
A Brennan free throw tied the game at 53 before Parham scored five straight points to to give Marquette its largest lead to that point, 58-53. A Devin Askew corner triple shaved the gap to 58-57 but Stevens answered with his own 3-pointer to put the Golden Eagles up 61-57 with 8:14 remaining in the second half.
 
Ben Gold scored on a drive to the goal to extend the lead to 63-57 with 6:32 to play in the period. A Gold triple made it 66-57 before Perkins hit one for Nova to cut the lead to 66-60. Another Perkins long ball pulled VU to within 66-63 at the 4:52 mark.
 
When Hodge sank a 3-pointer the game was tied at 66.
 
Final Minutes
 
Marquette countered with a Gold deep ball to push Marquette back on top, 69-66. Chase Ross followed with a 3-pointer to stretch the margin to 72-66. Perkins dropped in another for VU, which trailed 72-69 as the clock dipped below the three-minute mark. A pair of Lewis free throws at the 2:10 mark made it a 72-71 lead for the Golden Eagles.
 
Lewis then scored on a driving field goal at the 1:39 mark to put VU back on top at 73-72. A steal by Perkins led to two made free throws for the junior. Askew sank two more clutch free throws later to extend the advantage to 77-74.
 
Perkins then came up with a blocked shot on the final possession to seal the win for the Wildcats.
 
What They Said
 
Willard on the Wildcats 18-of-31 night at the free throw line (.581): "We've worked on it. Everyone is in there every day. It's not like we're not doing it. I think it's a little bit mental right now. We miss one and it's like we've got too much negative emotion. I've got to change that somehow. We'll get there."
 
"If we can improve our free throw shooting and make a couple of layups in the first half, it's a totally different game. We held them to 32 points (in the first half). We should have had 44 points."
 
Perkins: "Defensively, I wasn't good at all. But we found a way."