Marquette's upset of No. 1 Villanova puts Golden Eagles in NCAA tourney picture

With a pair of tremendous wins, Marquette fans are back to believing their team can dance in 2017

By Matt Norlander

Jan 24, 2017 at 11:51 pm ET • 1 min read

Upsets happen, comebacks curl like the tide on a daily basis in college basketball.

That said, No. 1 Villanova's collapse on the road against Marquette on Tuesday night will probably go down as one of the 10 most surprising outcomes this regular season in college basketball. The Wildcats led by 17 points in the second half against a borderline bubble team (borderline no more, MU fans!) and lost, 74-72.

They bent at the will of Marquette, which went on a 17-2 run late in the game and helped turn an anticipated evening of college basketball into one of the most notable nights this season.

In the process, Villanova (19-2) lost its grip on the No. 1 ranking. The Wildcats will fall from the top of the polls on Monday.

Given that Nova has been so good, so reliable and so dominant within the Big East in recent seasons, to see Jay Wright's team succumb to this kind of run is stunning. Villanova is not built to blow 17-point leads, even when it's in-conference and on the road. The Wildcats managed just six bench points and only made 6 of 34 attempts from 3. Ouch.

It was Katin Reinhardt's two made foul shots with 11.6 ticks to go that clinched the game, this after Villanova did the unbelievable: failing to hit a winning shot. Reinhardt, a senior transfer, also had a 3-pointer that tied the game at 72-72.

Now Marquette is 14-6 and riding its two best wins of the season. This Nova conquest is Steve Wojciechowski's best win since becoming a head coach. Combine that with the Creighton victory, on the road, from the weekend and now Marquette's rightfully putting its eye on landing an NCAA Tournament berth. There's plenty of path ahead, but these two wins have changed the Golden Eagles' season.

Even with its best team losing, it was a good night for the Big East. Villanova has gone 16-2 three years in a row in league play. It will need to run the table this year to do it four straight times. The Wildcats are 7-2 in conference games so far this season.

The last time Marquette beat a No. 1-ranked team came in 2003. Yes, Dwyane Wade was on the team. Yes, it was that upset of Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament. Crazy, right? Those are the only two times MU has ever beaten No. 1.