Just before taking the court for the conference opener against No. 15 Villanova, Marquette coach Buzz Williams gave his players a reminder: Their seniors have never started 2-0 in the Big East.

One down, one to go.

Jerel McNeal scored 24 points, including a critical 3-pointer down the stretch that helped power the Golden Eagles to a 79-72 victory over the Wildcats yesterday in Milwaukee. Marquette (12-2, 1-0 Big East) has another home game Sunday against Cincinnati, giving the Golden Eagles a shot at their first fast start to conference play.

"It's huge," Wesley Matthews said. "We've never started out 2-0. Buzz had told us that — the last thing he said to us in the locker room. This is a tough conference. Wins are tough to get by."

Especially against a ranked opponent known for its defense.

"I think they're one of the better defenses in the country, actually," McNeal said.

Coming into yesterday's game, Villanova (12-2, 0-1) was allowing 57.6 points and holding opponents to 37.9 percent shooting from the field. Marquette shot 46 percent yesterday, including 41.7 percent from 3-point range.

Matthews scored 19 and Dominic James added 17.

"We just played a very good team with great veteran guards," Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "Those guys are fun to watch, and they just controlled the game. Veteran guards win in college basketball, and those guys were big-time."

Lazar Hayward added 15, giving the Golden Eagles four double-digit scorers against one of the Big East's best defensive teams. Hayward has scored 14 points or more in Marquette's last six games.

RUNNING

4,000 IN MIDNIGHT RUN THROUGH CENTRAL PARK

Sean Quigley of Philadelphia won the men's title and Aziza Aliyu of Ethiopia took the women's in the Emerald Nuts Midnight Run through a frigid Central Park in New York early yesterday morning.

Quigley, a former All-American at La Salle, covered the 4-mile course in 18 minutes, 45 seconds. Brian Olinger of Columbus, Ohio, was second in 18:53, followed by Abiyot Endale of Ethiopia in 18:59.

A field of about 4,000 competed in the event sponsored by the New York Road Runners. The temperature was 18 degrees when the race started at midnight and a 16-mph wind made the wind chill just 3 degrees.

"I never ran in weather as cold as this," said the 23-year-old Quigley.

Aliyu outkicked Emily Brown of Minneapolis by 1 second to finish in 21:21. Buzunesh Deba of Ethiopia was third in 22:05.

SKIING

AUSTRIA'S LOITZL KEEPS LEAD IN FOUR HILLS

Wolfgang Loitzl of Austria earned his first World Cup victory, winning the second leg of the Four Hills ski jumping tournament yesterday at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

Loitzl, who finished second in the first leg in Oberstdorf on Monday, had jumps of 134.5 and 136.5 meters in the annual New Year's Day meet for a total of 276.3 points. Overall World Cup leader Simon Ammann of Switzerland was second with 274.6 points after jumps of 140 and 134.5 meters.

Harri Olli of Finland was third.

Loitzl leads the Four Hills tournament with 562 points, one ahead of Ammann with two meets left. The tournament wraps up with meets in Innsbruck, Austria, tomorrow and Bischofshofen, Austria, on Monday.

Ammann extended his lead in the overall World Cup standings. He has 765 points, 155 ahead of Gregor Schlierenzauer. Loitzl is third with 539.

TENNIS

BLAKE, RODDICK OUSTED FROM CAPITALA WORLD

Andy Murray swept past James Blake, 6-2, 6-2, yesterday to set up a semifinal meeting with Roger Federer at the inaugural Capitala World Tennis Championship at Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

In the other first-round match, Nikolay Davydenko ousted Andy Roddick, 6-4, 6-4, and will face Rafael Nadal in today's other semifinal. Nadal and Federer received first-round byes in the exhibition event, which is not part of the ATP Tour but features six of the world's top 10 players and offers a winner-take-all prize of $250,000.

Capitala is the first major tennis tournament to be played at the Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi, and Roddick said he was bothered by the shade covering half the court for the mid-afternoon match.

"It was tough playing out of the shadows and made it difficult to spot the ball," he said. "It was always going to be difficult coming from six weeks over the break. But regardless of this match, I have worked hard in the offseason and I am happy."

The top-ranked Nadal and No. 2 Federer will both begin their 2009 ATP season by playing in the Qatar Open in Doha starting Monday. Murray, the defending champion, and Roddick are also playing in the tournament.