PHILADELPHIA -- Darrun Hilliard watched intently Saturday night as the Philadelphia 76ers retired Allen Iversons number at the Wells Fargo Center. Less than 24 hours later, in the same arena, he tried to recreate the magic of his all-time favourite player. Hilliard scored a career-high 26 points and No. 8 Villanova set a school record for regular-season wins with a 73-56 victory over Marquette on Sunday. "AI was the man," Hilliard said. "That was my favourite player. Seeing him go out and be the smallest guy on the court and doing what he did with everything against him, it was something I looked up to. So its pretty cool to be in this building." Josh Hart added 13 points and JayVaughn Pinkston had 11 points and seven rebounds for the Wildcats (26-3, 14-2 Big East), who have won four straight and 10 of 11. The Wildcats had never won 26 regular-season games in the 95-year history of the program. Villanova won 25 games four previous times, most recently in 2008-09, a season it reached the Final Four. Deonte Burton scored 13 points for Marquette (17-12, 9-7) and Todd Mayo finished with 11 points and five rebounds. "I was proud of that effort," Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "I know Marquettes a good, hungry team and they play hard. Its hard to match that level." Playing in the home of the 76ers Hilliard almost looked like an NBA guard with the kind of show he put on for the fans. The 6-foot-6 junior guard had 18 points in first half, shot 5 for 8 from 3-point range for the game and set his career high with a dazzling drive that put the Wildcats up 66-47 with 4:58 left. Hilliards previous career high of 25 points came in an upset win over Syracuse last season -- also at the Wells Fargo Center. "Darrun was on fire today," Hart said. "When you have someone whos 5 for 8 from 3s, the defence is really focusing in on him so that allowed me to get open shots." Villanova was 12 of 29 from 3-point range. Trying to make a late push to get into the NCAA tournament for the ninth straight year, Marquette came in having won five of six, including an important two-point victory over Georgetown on Thursday. But the Golden Eagles never threatened to upset the Wildcats, shooting just 4 for 15 from 3-point range and 16 for 25 from the free throw line. They committed 15 turnovers. "I would say the number one disappointment is we didnt play as hard as we have to play on the road to beat a team as good as Villanova," Marquette coach Buzz Williams said. After falling behind by 11 points at halftime, Marquette made just one field goal through the first 5 minutes of the second half to allow Villanova to open a 48-29 lead. Villanova led by double digits the rest of the way to move one full game ahead of No. 9 Creighton for first place in the Big East. The Wildcats only two conference losses have come to Creighton, which fell out of first place after losing to Xavier on Saturday. "I dont think theyre going to win our league or theyre eighth in the country based on one number," Williams said. "I think theyre really good in each phase of the game but I also think they play for one another. I think they play incredibly hard and I think they play with great spirit." Hilliard and Hart combined to score Villanovas first 20 points, before Pinkston and Tony Chennault scored the next nine for the Wildcats. Daniel Ochefu then forced a steal, ran ahead of the pack and had a transition dunk to cap a 17-4 run and send Villanova to a 31-18 lead with 3:18 left in the first half. The Golden Eagles cut the deficit to six points a couple of minutes later, but Hilliard scored five straight points to close the half, hitting two free throws after Williams was called for a technical foul and drilling a 3-pointer with 2 seconds remaining. "I thought that series was important for us," Wright said. "We were struggling a little and they were coming back." The Wildcats led 36-25 at halftime despite foul-plagued starting guards Ryan Arcidiacono and James Bell playing just 6 and 5 minutes, respectively. Neither scored in the first half and Bell, the teams leading scorer, didnt score at all and remains six points shy of 1,000 points for his career. "In the first half, when we were playing without James Bell and Ryan Arch, I thought our energy level actually went up," Wright said. "I thought we were actually a quicker team. And then those guys were really fresh in the second half. "Weve been trying to build our depth throughout the season and that was really important to have that first half like that." Zack Greinke Jersey . -- Adrian Peterson takes a look around the league and sees big money flying everywhere. Chris Owings Jersey . The Montreal Alouettes announced Tuesday that they have acquired the return specialist from Calgary, as well as the Stampeders fifth-round draft pick in the 2014 CFL Canadian Draft. http://www.diamondbacksteamshop.com/Diamondbacks-Archie-Bradley-Kids-Jersey/ . -- When the Los Angeles Kings are on top of their formidable defensive game, they revel in the silence they can create in a frustrated road arena. Ketel Marte Jersey . In the days leading up to the draft, TSN.ca and TSN Radio basketball analyst Duane Watson looks at some of the names that will be headlining the event. Watch the 2014 NBA Draft on TSN, Thursday at 7pm et/4pm pt. Shelby Miller Jersey . -- The Los Angeles Dodgers signed Cuban shortstop Erisbel Arruebarrena to a $25 million, five-year contract Saturday. MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- The Memphis Grizzlies turned up their offence in the second half, and the Charlotte Bobcats were too tired to keep pace. Mike Conley scored 20 points, Zach Randolph added 16 and the Grizzlies beat the Bobcats 111-89 on Saturday night. "From a team standpoint, I think we played well," said reserve centre Kosta Koufos, who had 11 of his 12 points in the fourth quarter and grabbed 10 boards. "We all executed on the offensive end. Defensively, (the bigs) were up on the screens, and our guards did a heck of a job in the passing lanes." Marc Gasol added 14 points and nine rebounds as the Grizzlies won a season-best sixth straight home game. Al Jefferson scored 17 for Charlotte, shooting just 7 of 17 from the field. Chris Douglas-Roberts finished with 15 points, his fourth straight game in double figures, but Kemba Walker had just 11 -- all in the first half -- on 3-of-13 shooting. Charlotte shot 40 per cent for the game. The Bobcats were playing their fifth game in seven days against some of the NBAs best teams, including Miami, Oklahoma City and Indiana. The fatigue showed through much of the game, but really emerged in the second half. "We lacked the energy that we needed," Charlotte coach Steve Clifford said. "The second thing would be the physicality to play them. They have bruising in there, and if you arent ready to fight in the paint, youre going to be in trouble." Memphis, which has won four of its last five, dominated the interior, outscoring Charlotte 60-46 in the paint and winning the rebound battle 51-40. "We just played a great team that had a great game plan for us," Jefferson said. "I think we kind of got away from what we do. A little fatigue played into it, too." Memphis broke the game open after halftime, outscoring Charlotte 59-45 in the final two quarters. Charlotte is a top-five defensive team, entering the game allowing 97.2 poinnts per game.dddddddddddd The Bobcats had held opponents under 100 points in 40 of the first 62 games. Memphis outscored Charlotte 27-17 in the third quarter as the Grizzlies connected on 11 of 21 shots. Meanwhile, Charlottes shooting struggles continued as the Bobcats hit only 8 of 25 in the period. Memphis took a 79-61 lead at the end of the third and extended it to as many as 26 as Koufos consistently got to the rim early in the fourth. Both teams then sent in the reserves to finish it out. "I thought (it) was a really good, professional win," Memphis coach Dave Joerger said. "I thought our guys were focused and ready to play. "I thought we played pretty well in the first half, and even better in the second half." Memphis carried a 52-44 lead into halftime behind 11 points from Conley and 10 from Randolph. Memphis controlled Jefferson, who entered the game averaging 31-plus points in his last four games. He had eight points at the break on 3-of-9 shooting. Gasol just kind of shook his head when asked about stopping Jefferson, who was 2 of 13 for only six points when Charlotte won the first meeting 92-89 on Feb. 22. "He has so many weapons, its not about what you can do," Gasol said. "You can make it tough on him a little bit. "Al is probably the toughest guy (to guard) because he has so many counters and different things he can do. Plus they run about 68 plays a game for him." NOTES: Memphis entered the game having a different leading scorer in the last seven games. The streak ended with Conley scoring 20. Earlier this season, the Grizzlies went eight straight with a different high scorer. ... Jeffersons 17 points ended his string of four straight games scoring at least 25. ... Charlotte had lost the last three games in Memphis by a combined 74 points. ... Memphis reserve G/F Mike Miller left the floor in the second quarter after twisting his ankle, but returned in the second half. ' ' '