The Marquette men’s basketball team needed this.

The Golden Eagles had lost back-to-back games and suffered injuries to key backups Chase Ross and Sean Jones.

But MU got going on Monday afternoon and cruised to an 87-74 victory over Villanova at Fiserv Forum.

The offense for the 17th-ranked Golden Eagles (12-5, 3-3 Big East) against the Wildcats (11-6, 4-2) looked more like the MU team that was ranked in the top 10 for most of the season.

BOX SCORE: Marquette 87, Villanova 74

"Just sticking together," MU guard Stevie Mitchell said. "Losing two can't pull us apart. We have to come closer together. Even more than ever now. So I think that was the main thing."

Tyler Kolek, Oso Ighodaro and Kam Jones star for Marquette

MU opened the game on offense with back-to-back lob plays from point guard Tyler Kolek to big man Oso Ighodaro for dunks.

The Golden Eagles went on to score 60 points in the paint. MU shot 27.3% on three-pointers in its first five Big East games, so it was good for the Golden Eagles to keep attacking the basket.

"It was a particular action that we thought might work," MU head coach Shaka Smart said. "When Tyler has a clarity about him like he did today, he's as good as there is making that pass. And we thought we were going to get him going downhill on some of those actions.

"It really did set a tone. Today, we only shot 30% (7 for 23) from three. We didn't shoot as many threes as Villanova. But I thought the guys understand, hey, we can drive, we can get in the paint, let's continue to do that."

MU’s "Big Three" of Kolek, Ighodaro and Kam Jones combined to score 61 points.

"When those three play well together, our chances of winning go way up," Smart said. "I think that's the case for the Bucks or any other team with three great players.

"But, as I told the guys in the locker room, the focus needs to be more on what are the steps that go into playing well and even in between plays. Continuing to help each other be in the place we need to be in.

"This can be a frustrating game when you have high expectations. Very, very sky-high expectations. It can be frustrating, like, why are things not going well for me or for us? And that's for a player, that's for a coach, that's for someone at any level. I think, for us, it's interesting, maybe a rediscovery of whether you want to call it desperation, humility, the fact that 'should' doesn't matter. That helped us today."

Tyler Kolek and Kam Jones bust out of slumps

Kolek finished with 21 points and 11 assists, a big game after struggling with 2-for-19 shooting over the back-to-back losses.

MU had 24 assists against just three turnovers.

He knocked down his lone three-pointer for a 77-68 lead with 2:27 remaining, holding his follow through an extra beat after missing his first four long-range attempts. He then fed Ighodaro for a dunk and knocked down two free throws to seal the victory.

"It's been a lot of reflection, I think, on his part," Smart said. "It's been a lot of conversation with different members of our program, coaches and players.

"The most important conversations are amongst the guys coming together. There was a group that went out to eat the day after we lost to Butler. And talked through some things and looked each other in the eye. There's a desperation that you have to have. It was easy for us at times to feel like we should do this or we should do that. But that doesn't get you anywhere and these Big East games are wars."

Jones finished with 22 points on 10-for-12 shooting in 38 minutes after being mired in a slump over the start to Big East play.

"I don't think his confidence ever wavered," Mitchell said. "I don't think his confidence ever will waver.

"I think it was more so just him being frustrated because he knows what he's capable of and the ball just wasn't going in. So just knowing him, he's going to stay in the gym. You should come to our practice, he made probably 15 threes during practice yesterday in live play.

"It's no secret he can shoot. Sometimes the ball doesn't go in, and for great shooters like him it's going to level out. He knows if he keeps shooting that he's going to make them. And we want him to keep shooting because we know how great he is."

Zaide Lowery provides a spark off the bench

Zaide Lowery checked into the game for MU at the 12:23 mark of the first half. The freshman guard knew he would get more playing time after the injuries Sean Jones and Ross. Jones is out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL, and Ross will have his separated shoulder re-evaluated at the end of the month.

Lowery made the most of his chance in the first half, knocking down back-to-back attempts from long range to tie the game at 33-33.

That kickstarted a 12-0 run that gave the Golden Eagles the lead at 39-33 on a short jumper from Kolek.

"To be honest, just my teammates talking with me," Lowery said. "The first time, Sean had went down, everybody had to be ready. We're kind of worried about Sean, about his knee.

"We had to get past hard. And then my teammates encouraging me. Went out there, had two big threes, played defense. That just comes from energy from my teammates."

Smart was impressed by the youngster.

"I'm really happy for him," Smart said. "It really came on time for our team. I feel like I've known the guy for a long time, and when I first got to know him, he didn't have the intestinal fortitude to come in the game and do what he did today.

"Not even just the threes, but to come in the game and stand up, I mean, Villanova has got some grown men. They got like eight seniors. They got toughness, physicality. There's nobody on their team where you can hide a guy in a matchup.

"And I thought, Zaide, he's just grown a lot. To be able to be sturdy enough, tough enough, to put him on some of those guys and for him to play pretty well."

His development could be key if MU wants to reach the high expectations it had before the season, even though the rotation looks different now.

"We can't replicate Sean, we can't replicate Chase," Mitchell said. "Because of how special they are and how special what they do is. So kind of just stepping up who we are, just being the best versions of ourselves.

"Which we talked about before they got hurt, but just knowing now that we have to do it more than ever. And just having those guys encouraging us. Playing for them. Chase is going to get to come back this season, but for Sean, who is not, just playing for him because we know he gives it his all when he gets to play. So who are we not to give our all for him?"

Required reading: Former NBA star Dwyane Wade making a large gift to Marquette to support his passions, including literacy and basketball

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Marquette beats Villanova, 87-74, to snap two-game losing streak