The circumstances conspired to guarantee that Marquette was going to see a locked-in Villanova on Saturday night.

The Wildcats came out firing and held on for a 100-90 victory at the Wells Fargo Center.

Head coach Jay Wright and four-time defending Big East champion Villanova (14-1, 2-1) had a week to stew after losing, 101-93, to Butler last Saturday in Indianapolis.

There also was the matter of the Wildcats' returning players remembering MU's 74-72 victory last Jan. 24 at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

So MU (11-5, 2-2) caught No. 3 Villanova rested and ready.

The Wildcats were hot from the start, with junior wing Eric Paschall hitting two 3s and Phil Booth adding another on their first three possessions.

Villanova ended up shooting 18 of 29 (62.1 percent) in the first 20 minutes, including 6 of 12 from beyond the arc.

MU coach Steve Wojciechowski could not find a way to slow the Wildcats.

He even broke out a little-used zone defense. But the result was Villanova point guard Jalen Brunson getting into the lane and finding teammates (six assists in first half) against the scrambling Golden Eagles.

MU was able to keep the deficit to 46-34 at the break on 7 of 16 3-point shooting.

But immediately after halftime, Villanova forward Mikal Bridges hit a 3-pointer followed by two mid-range jumpers by Brunson for a 7-2 run that pushed the lead to 17.

Every time MU even threatened to cut into the lead, Villanova had an answer.

A four-point play by MU junior wing Sam Hauser was followed by another 3-pointer by Bridges. A 3-pointer by MU sophomore guard Markus Howard was followed by a Villanova offensive rebound and two free throws by Paschall.

The Golden Eagles got to within eight on a layup by freshman guard Greg Elliott with 8:33 remaining, but Villanova sophomore guard Donte DiVincenzo threw down a dunk and Brunson hit a jumper at the free-throw line.

MU tried to mount a furious rally in the waning minutes with Elliott's three-point play cutting the Wildcats' lead to 87-80 with 1:25 left and a free throw by Sacar Anim got it to within five with 43 seconds left.

But Villanova salted the game away on free throws.

MU just couldn't slow down the high-powered Villanova offense that had averaged 94.5 points per game heading into the matchup with MU.

Howard did his part to score with the Wildcats.

In his first game since scoring a school-record 52 points on 17 of 29 shooting against Providence, Howard finished with 37 on 13 of 27 shooting vs. the Wildcats.

Anim added 14 points on 6 of 9 shooting. Hauser and Elliott each had 13.

But MU's second-leading scorer Andrew Rowsey finished with only six points. He shot 2 of 12 and played only eight minutes in the second half.

Brunson finished with 27 points and eight assists. Paschall added 19 and the balanced Wildcats had six players score in double figures.

MU finished its first conference road trip 1-1 after the 95-90 victory over Providence on Wednesday.

The Golden Eagles return to the Bradley Center to face Seton Hall on Tuesday.