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Villanova, Pa. — While the rest of his teammates went through their pregame stretching regimen, junior guard Jajuan Johnson hung out under the basket with a ball under his arm. Then when stretches were over, he joined in with his teammates for some shooting drills before stepping back to the baseline to continue watching.

Earlier in the day on Wednesday, he had been considered questionable to play after suffering a neck injury during the first half of Saturday's win over St. John's. A few minutes before game time, though, he was officially announced as out for Marquette's game against Villanova.

Without Johnson, who normally is one of the first subs in the game along with redshirt sophomore guard Duane Wilson, head coach Steve Wojciechowski shortened up his rotation. Junior Wally Ellenson picked up four minutes at the end of the first half then tacked on three shifts of around a minute each in the second half.

That meant Marquette's core six players all played 26 minutes or more with four logging 30-plus minutes. Freshman guard Haanif Cheatham played a team-high 38 minutes, freshman forward Henry Ellenson played 37, sophomore guard Sandy Cohen III logged 36 and junior center Luke Fischer spent 30 on the court.

"We're not nearly as deep a team without Jajuan," Wojciechowski said following the 83-68 loss at The Pavilion. "He's a guy who's played in a lot of games for us. Not having him hurts our depth. He gives us another long wing athlete. He's somebody who can attack the basket and who can draw fouls. Not having a guy who can draw fouls like J.J. does hurt us today."

There is currently no timetable for when Johnson could return to action.

Carter's homecoming: Freshman point guard Traci Carter had about 40 family and friends in the stands for his first collegiate game back near his hometown of Philadelphia. He wasn't nervous about being back near home, but admitted it was a special game for him.

"It feels good, real good," Carter said. "It was very exciting being home, all my family and friends could see me."

He got off to a hot start, scoring eight points and dishing out five assists in the first half to help Marquette take a 38-37 lead into halftime. Six of those points came on a pair of three-pointers, which he has rarely taken this season. Entering the game, Carter was 1 for 4 on three-pointers. By the end of the game he had doubled his long-range attempts, going 2 for 4.

The second of Carter's three's tied the game at 29 late in the first half. It came directly in front of the Villanova bench and in the heat of the moment Carter said something that earned him a technical foul.

Villanova head coach Jay Wright, who recruited Carter before the point guard tore his left meniscus following his junior season in high school, respected what he saw from Carter.

"He's recovered very well," Wright said. "He's going to be a hell of a guard in this league. He's tough and he had a great game tonight."

Jimmy Butler following Marquette: Former Marquette standout and current Chicago Bulls star Jimmy Butler stopped at the Al McGuire Center on Tuesday ahead of the Bulls' game against the Bucks later that night where he wore a pair of Marquette shoes.

During Butler's time at the Al, he spoke with the team at practice. Knowing they were headed on the road to play Villanova, one of his main messages to them was that they needed to stick together, especially on the road, and weather the runs that would undoubtedly come.

On Wednesday night, with the Bulls set to play the 76ers on Thursday, Butler watched the game from courtside with teammate Joakim Noah. At the half, it looked like Marquette had taken his advice to heart, bouncing back from a 16-point deficit to take a 1-point lead into the break.

“It was really good," Butler said of the first half. "The team’s really good.”

Tidbits: Villanova's victory was its 20th in a row against Big East foes, including last spring conference tournament. It was also the Wildcats' 36th consecutive victory at The Pavilion. ...

Cheatham led Marquette with 17 points on 4 of 14 shooting while going 7 of 9 from the free throw line.

"I think Haaney's one of the best young players in America," Wojciechowski saidl. "I thought he really attacked the basket strong today. Again, he's got to learn to finish better through contact, but he can really get the basket." ...

Marquette's 14 turnovers were its second-fewest in Big East play, but they led to 23 Villanova points. The Golden Eagles had forced an average of 15.4 turnovers per contest, but only got the benefit of 10 against a Wildcat team that rarely gives the ball way. ...

Following Villanova's 25 of 30 performance at the free-throw line, Marquette's opponents are now shooting 77.2% from the charity stripe this season. Unluckily for Marquette, that's the highest percentage in the country. Interestingly enough, the Golden Eagles rank third in Free Throw Rate allowed (FTA/FGA), meaning teams don't get to the line very often against Marquette relative to their total field goal attempts, but when they get free throws they tend to make them.