MILWAUKEE — Scottie Reynolds hit a jumper in the lane with 18.1 seconds left for the lead, and No. 8 Villanova held on to beat Marquette 74-72 in its Big East opener Saturday.
Reynolds scored 23 points, including 16 in the second half, and Maalik Wayns added 16 points off the bench for the Wildcats (12-1, 1-0 Big East).
Jimmy Butler had 19 points and Lazar Hayward added 17 for the Golden Eagles (9-5, 0-2), who blew their second chance to knock off a ranked conference rival this week. Marquette also frittered away a late lead at West Virginia on Tuesday night.
The game hinged on free throws — and Marquette came up short, just as it did against West Virginia.
Marquette took a 69-67 lead on David Cubillan's 3-pointer as the shot clock expired with 4:10 left in the game, and Villanova came up empty on its next two possessions.
After a foul on Marquette's Dwight Buycks, Villanova's Reggie Redding missed a pair of free throws. A Villanova foul then sent Darius Johnson-Odom to the line, but he missed both, and Marquette led by two with 2:35 left.
Redding went back to the line on Villanova's next possession and hit them both to tie the game at 69.
Butler then was fouled on a drive to the basket, hitting both free throws to put Marquette up 71-69 with 1:49 left. A loose ball then went out of bounds on the other end, giving the ball back to the Golden Eagles.
A foul on Hayward sent Redding back to the line, and he hit them both to tie the game with 56.5 seconds left.
After a miss on Marquette's end, Hayward was fouled on a rebound — and he left the first one short off the front of the rim, but hit the second one for a 1-point lead with 27.4 seconds left.
Reynolds then hit a shot in the lane with 18.1 seconds left, and was fouled by Johnson-Odom on the play.
Reynolds missed the free throw, and Marquette's Butler got a wide-open look under the basket — but he missed inside, and Marquette picked up a loose-ball foul, sending Redding back to the line.
Redding hit one of two, putting Villanova up 74-72 with 2.6 seconds left.
Dwight Buycks couldn't get a shot off on Marquette's final play.
Marquette was in the game despite going cold from 3-point range after a hot start to the game.
The Golden Eagles shot over 60 percent from 3-point range in each of their previous two games, including a 10-for-16 performance in the loss at West Virginia. And they made four 3-pointers in the first seven minutes Saturday, taking an early 23-13 lead.
Villanova again was without 6-foot-10 center Mouphtaou Yarou, who has played in only two games this season because of an illness but recently returned to practice.