Wednesday brings a matchup between two of the hottest teams in the Big East as Villanova hosts Marquette. The Wildcats are winners of six straight games while the Golden Eagles have won four in a row.

“We know this is a hot Marquette team coming in playing great basketball,” Jay Wright said. “Playing great at both ends of the floor. Great leader in Darryl Morsell, great scorer in (Justin) Lewis, great shot-blocker in (Kur) Kuath. They’re really good so it should be a great game.”

Marquette enters with a 12-6 overall record and a 4-3 mark in the Big East. The Golden Eagles are also a well-tested team, having played 10 top 57 KenPom teams. They’ve beaten Illinois, Kansas State, West Virginia, Providence and Seton Hall and lost to Wisconsin, UCLA, Xavier, UConn and Creighton. Marquette is 3-4 in Quad 1 games and currently rank 40th in the NET rankings.

Lewis leads the way with 15.3 points and 7.7 rebounds per game, adding 1.6 assists and 1.2 steals. Morsell is the only other double figure scorer for Marquette, chipping in 13.8 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists. He’s also connected on 39.4% of his 3-point attempts.

From there, Marquette gets balanced contributions from six players. Kam Jones adds 7.9 points and has connected on 38.6% of his 3s. Greg Elliott also averages 7.9 points and connects on 50% of his 3s. Oso Ighodaro adds 6.7 points and 3.9 rebounds. Tyler Kolek chips in 6.6 points, a team-high 6.4 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.8 steals. Olivier-Maxence Prosper adds 6.1 points and 3.5 rebounds. Kur Kuath has provided great rim protection with 2.9 blocks per game to go with 5.7 points and 4.7 rebounds.

Much of Villanova’s recent success has been driven by its play inside the arc at both ends of the floor. The Wildcats, while staying true to themselves and not shying away from the 3-ball, have made a concerted effort to get inside and have been consistently earning advantages in the paint. They’ve also held opponents to 44.6% on 2-point attempts during the six-game winning streak, a number that drops to 40.2% over the last three games. Those numbers, combined with some of what Marquette does, create some intrigue in this matchup.

First, the Golden Eagles have played excellent defense around the rim, ranking 6th in Haslametrics’ near-proximity defense metric. They also do a good job of filtering opponents into that defensive strength.

Meanwhile, Marquette has also been good around the rim offensively, ranking 26th in near-proximity FG%.

It will be interesting to see how Villanova looks to attack the Marquette defense and if the ‘Cats can once again build an advantage inside.

Wright pointed to an improvement in defending off the dribble as a factor for the strong 2-point defense of late. “I think we’ve been doing a pretty good job defending off the dribble,” Wright said. “We’ve gotten better at that. I think early in the year we struggled a little bit, but I think we’re getting better.” It’s something he thinks the team will need to continue to do well against Marquette. “Guys like Darryl Morsell and Lewis who can really put it on the floor, we’re gonna have to do a good job keeping them out of the lane,” Wright continued. “I think Kolek, the point guard, is great at getting in the lane and getting to the rim, we’re gonna have to do a good job.”

While it will be interesting to see how things play out inside, this is a game where the 3-point line could play a key role. Despite those good inside numbers for Marquette, the Golden Eagles aren’t shy about launching from deep and have connected at a respectable 34% clip. Morsell, Jones and Elliott, in particular, are dangerous from beyond the arc. With Marquette looking to force opponents into shots in the teeth of the defense down low, it creates an interesting dynamic as to how Villanova will attack offensively and how the 3-point line impacts the game.

One last thing we can’t ignore is the opposing approaches to pace. Marquette is one of the fastest teams in college basketball in regards to pace while Villanova is one of the most deliberate. Each team will be looking to impose its preference in the game, and the team who is able to dictate the pace more to its liking could gain a key advantage in the game.

Marquette is 7-0 when scoring 80+ points, 2-3 when scoring fewer than 70 and 3-3 when scoring between 70-79.

It should be interesting to see how things play out.

The game is scheduled for an 8 p.m. tip on CBSSN.