WEDNESDAY’S MEN’s COLLEGE BASKETBALL GAMES

No. 1 Villanova 103, DePaul 85

CHICAGO

Mikal Bridges scored 20 points, Phil Booth added 17 points and six assists, and Villanova made it look easy, beating DePaul in the Big East opener for both teams. The Wildcats (13-0, 1-0 Big East) closed in on last year’s program-record 14-0 start and gave coach Jay Wright his 399th victory in 17 seasons at Villanova. Chicago-area product Jalen Brunson had 16 points and five assists. Eric Paschall scored 16, and Villanova hit the 100-point mark for the third time this season. Max Strus had 20 points, nine rebounds and six assists for DePaul (7-6, 0-1). Marin Maric added 17 points and 10 rebounds, but the Blue Demons dropped their 13th straight against ranked opponents. They fell to 3-21 against No. 1 teams. The Wildcats beat DePaul for the 15th straight time and improved to 25-8 in the all-time series.

No. 6 Xavier 91, SFlbMarquette 87

MADISON, WIS.

Trevon Blueitt had 23 points, J.P. Macura scored 11 of his 15 points in the second half and Xavier beat Marquette to survive a road test in its Big East opener. Tyrique Jones added 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting before fouling out for Xavier (13-1, 1-0), which won its eighth straight game. Andrew Rowsey led the Golden Eagles (9-4, 0-1) with 31 points but missed a 3 while open from a couple feet from behind the arc with 1:16 left with his team trailing 85-82. Marquette’s Markus Howard also missed a couple of layups late, including an attempt high off the glass off an inbounds play. Kaiser Gates answered at the other end with a 3-pointer for a five-point lead with 1:29 left. The Big East leader in foul shooting (79.8 percent), Xavier sealed the road victory by going 6 of 6 from the line over the final 28 seconds. The sharpshooting Howard started 0 for 4 from 3-point range, though the Golden Eagles got an energy boost from center Harry Froling, who had four rebounds in 7 minutes off the bench in the first half. Howard finished with 13 points, shooting 6 of 19 from the field and 1 of 8 from 3-point territory.

Associated Press