Villanova’s season is starting to feel like reruns.

The Wildcats once again found themselves playing reasonably well against a very good opponent on Wednesday night against No. 14 Marquette and were in a position to win the game. And they once again folded down the stretch, watching a winnable game slip away in a 73-64 defeat.

“They just made some tough plays down the stretch,” Kyle Neptune said of the frustrating defeat. They’re a really good team, they just made more plays than us.”

‘Nova jumped out to a 6-0 lead, and while Marquette would fight back and tie the game several times throughout the half, the ‘Cats would never trail and would take a one-point lead into the break.

The reality is that Villanova played very well in the first half. The Wildcats shot 57.9% from the field and 53.8% from three. The ‘Cats managed that despite three starters (Eric Dixon, Brandon Slater, Cam Whitmore) each picking up two fouls and playing just over 22 minutes combined. The bench did a great job holding down the fort. Seven Wildcats scored, with Justin Moore and Brendan Hausen each scoring nine points to lead the way.

However, it wasn’t all good, and it’s fair to argue that the lead should have been bigger. The ‘Cats played solid defense overall, limiting Marquette to 44% shooting, but the three-point defense was lacking, with the Golden Eagles connecting on 43.8% from deep, helping them to stay in the game. More concerning was the fact that Villanova committed 11 turnovers leading to eight Marquette points. As a result, Villanova’s margin was limited to just one.

‘Nova scored the first four points of the second half to push the advantage to five, but a Tyler Kolek three at the 12:56 mark capped a 11-5 Marquette push that gave the Golden Eagles their first lead of the game. Another three followed yet another Villanova turnover to push the lead to four, and it felt like things were in danger of getting away from the ‘Cats.

The ‘Cats responded admirably, scoring five straight to retake the lead. The teams then traded blows for a few minutes, playing within a possession of each other before ‘Nova was able to take a four-point edge with 7:42 to play. The margin was again pushed to four at the 6:17 mark on a pair of Slater free throws. Then, as we’ve seen so often this season, the wheels fell off.

An 8-1 Marquette run turned the four-point lead into a three-point deficit with 3:55 to play. Villanova declined to call a timeout despite the offense looking completely lost and Marquette holding all the momentum in a rocking Fiserv Forum, and things would get worse.

The offense continued to sputter, and Marquette would push the run to 14-1 while taking a nine-point lead with 14 seconds left. A gimmie layup with 10 seconds left gave the Wildcats their first field goal since the 7:42 mark. Marquette would tack on two free throws to cap the nine-point win, with the Golden Eagles finishing the game on a 16-3 run. Over the final 7:42 Villanova shot 1-7 and committed three turnovers

“I thought they just played harder,” Neptune said of decisive stretch. “They were nasty. They got in passing lanes, they got some deflections. They’re just a tough, nasty team.”

The ’Cats shot just 40% in the second half, including 28.6% from three. The defense was solid again, holding Marquette to 40.7% overall and 27.3% from three. But the ‘Cats committed another eight turnovers, leading to 10 Marquette points, and forced just two turnovers.

It was another frustrating result, and maybe one of the more frustrating results in a season full of them. Villanova got the better of the shooting (47.7%/40.7% to 42.3%/37%) and had a 30-26 edge on the glass. ‘Nova led for 26:25 while Marquette led for just 8:38. For 33 minutes, Villanova played very well. But all that good work was undone in the seven minutes of poor play.

It’s impossible to ignore the turnovers, which prevented the ‘Cats from extending their lead during the time they were playing well. They committed an ugly 19 turnovers, leading to 18 Marquette points.

The disparity in play between the first 33 minutes and the last seven was truly jarring and it’s hard to imagine how such a disparity is even possible. The offense looked completely lost and overwhelmed. Furthermore, Wednesday night continued the trend of just not being able to execute and make plays down the stretch.

As a result, the ‘Cats drop to 10-12 on the season and fans are again left to wonder what the season would look like if the team could pull out even half of these close games. The ‘Cats are now 4-10 in games decided by nine points or less and 2-5 in games decided by five points or less. Four of those five losses were by four points or less, and three of them were by just two points.

Things don’t get any easier for the ‘Cats, who will remain on the road for a Saturday matchup with a Creighton team that is currently ranked 11th by KenPom.