VILLANOVA, Pa. – As it did in its win over No. 1 Kansas on Dec. 21, Villanova turned to a pair of trustworthy veterans in its BIG EAST opener Monday night against Xavier. Juniors Collin Gillespie (24 points and five assists) and Jermaine Samuels (14 points and eight rebounds) powered the No. 10 Wildcats past the Musketeers 68-62 before a packed house of 6,501 at Finneran Pavilion.
 
Villanova improved to 10-2 overall, 1-0 BIG EAST while Xavier fell to 11-3 overall, 0-1 in conference play.
 
"It was a grinder and that's what you're going to see every night in this league," stated Villanova head coach Jay Wright. "There are just too many good teams that are so well coached for it to be anything else. This is going to be an incredible season.
 
"This was a great learning experience for us. We made a lot of mistakes in the first half but down the stretch, a veteran like Collin and a veteran like Jermaine made plays."
 
Villanova fell behind in the first four minutes but used a 15-0 spurt midway through the period to craft a 23-11 advantage. From there the Wildcats were able to repel a series of challenges from Xavier, which has spent five weeks in the AP Top 25 already in 2019-20.
 
One critical component to the victory was Villanova's work in limiting Xavier's damage from long range. The Musketeers were just 1-of-11 from beyond the arc, with the only 3-pointer coming in the final two minutes of action.
 
"I thought we did a pretty good job of that," stated Wright. "I was pleased with that."
 
Xavier converted four of its first six attempts from the field to build an early 8-4 edge over the Wildcats. But Villanova reeled off a 9-0 run that featured a pair of nifty assists from Gillespie and a 3-pointer by Justin Moore in a span of 3:40 to put the 'Cats up 13-8.
 
The surge stretched out to 15 straight points before a Tyrique Jones dunk for the Musketeers with just under 10 minutes to play in the period halted the burst. With 7:55 to play before halftime, the Wildcats held a 23-11 lead over Xavier.
 
"Our older guys understand what the Big East is – that this is too good a team not to fight back," stated Wright. "Some of our young guys are still learning that."
 
The defensive struggle tilted towards the Musketeers for the remainder of the period though. Xavier outscored the 'Cats 14-9 in that stretch to shave the deficit to 32-25 at intermission.
 
Eight points from Gillespie paced the Wildcats while Naji Marshall led the Musketeers with nine points. Villanova owed its lead to perimeter defense – Xavier was 0-of-4 from beyond arc – and rebounding, where they owned a 24-17 advantage. The rugged defense resulted in eight turnovers for both teams after 20 minutes.
 
Xavier leaned on its interior scoring – it would end the evening with a 46-28 advantage on points scored in the paint – to keep the pressure on the 'Cats. But each time Xavier got close, Gillespie was there with an answer. A 3-pointer with 4:38 to play by Gillespie pushed the Wildcats to a 60-49 lead.
 
The Wildcats held off the Musketeers the rest of the way.
 
"I thought we did a really good job of not fouling," Wright stated of the defensive effort. "They create contact when they're driving the ball and force you to react by fouling. I thought Jermaine did a really good job on Marshall that way."
 
The Wildcats hit the road for their next action. Villanova visits Marquette Saturday in a game that is set to tip just after 2 p.m. eastern time and will air on Fox television along with 610 ESPN Radio and the TuneIn app everywhere.
 
"All these games for us are important," said Wright. "We still have a lot to learn. You can learn from winning if you're honest with yourself. We could have lost this one and there would have been a lot of lessons from first half turnovers, playing unintelligently when we got a lead, some breakdowns on offense.
 
"We've got to keep learning from that and getting better. Everybody in this league is going to keep getting better."
 
The 2019-20 season – Villanova's 100^th college basketball campaign – is presented by Hartford Funds and Coca-Cola.