Things don’t get any easier for the suddenly floundering Wildcats on Wednesday when they will look to end their three-game losing streak against #10 Marquette.

The ‘Cats suffered a disappointing loss in Marquette in early February, falling 66-65 in a game in which they erased deficits of 15 and nine in the second half, only to come up just short down the stretch.

All-in-all, the defensive performance was solid against Marquette, as ‘Nova held the Golden Eagles to 66 points after they entered the game averaging 79 per game. They had been averaging 81 points per game in wins and 69.8 in losses, so if you knew the Wildcats would only give up 66, you would have taken it in a second and felt great about its chances to win the game.

Ultimately the ‘Cats were done in by the duo of Markus Howard and Sacar Anim, who combined for 56 of Marquette’s 66 points. There’s no shame in failing to stop Howard, who scored 38 in the last matchup and who averages 25.3 points per game for the season. But if you can find a way to limit him, your chances of beat Marquette increase drastically as the Golden Eagles are just 5-4 in games in which he is held to 18 or fewer points.

Anim is another story. He entered the last matchup between the teams averaging just 7.7 points per game, and his 18 on 8-10 shooting was too much to overcome when paired with Howard’s impressive output.

‘Nova did an excellent job on the rest of Marquette’s key contributors, namely the Hauser brothers, Sam and Joey. That duo had just four points on 2-10 shooting in the last meeting.

While ‘Nova did a reasonably good job slowing an excellent offensive team, Marquette was still able to be efficient on the offensive end, shooting 51 percent from the field and 38.9 percent from 3, just below its season average. Another area the ‘Cats did well was defending without fouling, limiting Marquette to 10 free throw attempts, six below its average.

Offensively, the ‘Cats struggled in the last meeting, and their overall numbers at that end of the floor were bolstered by solid play during a pair of runs that helped them get back in the game. They finished the game shooting 40.4 percent from the field and 31 percent from 3.

Eric Paschall and Phil Booth combined for 36 points but didn’t get enough help from the rest of the ‘Cats. Saddiq Bey added 10, and Jermaine Samuels had nine after finally showing some aggressiveness in the second half. But Collin Gillespie had just five points, and the bench contributed only five. The three ‘Nova bench players took a total of just six shots.

The 3-point line is likely to be a major factor on Wednesday. Marquette has managed to improve upon its already impressive 3-point percentage as it is now knocking down 39.9 percent of its attempts from deep. Howard and both Hauser’s are shooting better than 40 percent from beyond the arc, while Anim is up to 39.2 percent.

Meanwhile, Villanova has only shot at or above its 3-point average (35.3) twice in the last eight games. The ‘Cats won both of those games, against DePaul and Providence, and are just 2-4 in the other six.

‘Nova actually managed to knock down two more 3’s than Marquette in the last meeting and defending the perimeter and breaking out of the shooting slump would go a long way towards a much-needed win.

Obviously, Villanova will look for a way to contain Howard. Late in the last meeting, the ‘Cats used Saddiq Bey on Howard, and Bey was able to be disruptive with his length and bother Howard a little bit. While it’s unlikely Bey will be tasked with chasing Howard all night, we could see that strategy earlier and more often Wednesday night.

Looking at the overall numbers from the last meeting you would assume ‘Nova did enough to win the game. The Wildcats had more field goal attempts, made more 3’s, had a positive margin from the free throw line and had fewer turnovers. ‘Nova also had more offensive rebounds and lost the total battle on the boards by just one. If Anim hadn’t played out of his mind, if the ‘Cats had done a slightly better job on Howard, or if the offense was more consistent, Villanova would have likely gotten the win.

A win on Wednesday would go a long way towards curing many of the ills plaguing Villanova right now. A victory would pull the ‘Cats to within a half-game of Marquette in the Big East standings, leaving the door open for at least a share of the regular season title. A win over the #10 team in the country would be a big boost for a resume that is trending the wrong direction and would go a long way towards keeping the ‘Cats off the dreaded 8/9 line in the NCAA tournament. And it would do wonders for the team’s confidence.

A win won’t come easy, but if the Wildcats can replicate what they did last time against Marquette and combine it with a little bit better offense and a better job on Howard, it’s certainly possible. Unfortunately, there’s no longer room for moral victories, and Villanova desperately needs to handle business on Wednesday night.