For a little bit, the script for a Marquette upset seemed to be in progress at Madison Square Garden.
The No. 2 Villanova Wildcats made only two shots in the first nine minutes and 33 seconds of the game despite getting a surplus of open looks. Marquette sophomore Markus Howard and senior Andrew Rowsey seemingly could not miss, combining for 30 points on 7-for-14 from beyond the arc in the first half. Everything was breaking Marquette’s way.
Then the Wildcats tore up that script, burnt it and buried the ashes.
A 12-0 Villanova run in the second half stretched a modest three-point Marquette deficit to a 15-point hole in just over four minutes.