Mouphtaou Yarou finished with 18 points, leading four players in double figures as No. 12 Villanova held off Marquette, 75-70, on Wednesday evening in Philadelphia.

Yarou scored six straight points midway through the first half to help the Wildcats (18-4, 6-3 Big East) build an early 19-12 lead. Villanova maintained the upper hand from there, stretching the margin to 55-41 with 10:19 left before Marquette rallied to within three points on a pair of Jae Crowder free throws.

The Golden Eagles (14-9, 5-5) had a couple of opportunities to draw even, but a three-point play by Yarou with 2:32 remaining stretched the lead back to 69-63, and it was a two-possession difference the rest of the way.

Corey Fisher added 17 points for Villanova, which hit 29 of 33 shots (87.9 percent) from the foul line. Jimmy Butler and Darius Johnson-Odom paced Marquette with 15 points apiece.