CINCINNATI, Ohio – A 17-0 surge midway through the second half proved decisive as Xavier downed Villanova 66-54 before a raucous sellout crowd of 10,444 at Cintas Center Sunday.
 
The Wildcats held the lead for 25:49 but that changed as Xavier revved its offense. A 42-38 lead slipped away from the Wildcats in a burst of Musketeers' offense. Villanova, meanwhile, misfired on nine consecutive field goal attempts in a scoring drought that lasted more than nine minutes.
 
"The credit goes to Xavier," stated Villanova head coach Jay Wright. "They just went on a run and shut us down. We couldn't make a shot. In that stretch they hit some 3's and got some big offensive rebounds that separated it.
 
"We didn't have the speed and athleticism to go after them and speed it up. Credit to them on that second half run. It was a back breaker."
 
For the second Sunday in a row, the Wildcats struggled offensively after crafting a halftime lead. Last week, the Wildcats were just 5-of-24 (.208) after holding a 37-26 intermission lead at St. John's before ultimately falling 71-65. In this one, VU was 8-of-29 (.276) in the second half and connected on 3-of-19 attempts over the game's final eight minutes.
 
Villanova did not attempt a free throw until more than 37 minutes of the game had been played.
 
Senior Eric Paschall (17 points) led Villanova. Classmate Phil Booth scored 12 of his 14 points in the first half.
 
Xavier was buoyed by an offensive attack that converted 24-of-47 field goals on the day (.511), including 8-of-22 from beyond the arc. Naji Marshall scored 17 points to lead the Musketeers (15-13 overall, 7-8 BIG EAST).
 
"They were just really good at breaking us down off the dribble and getting to the rim," noted Wright. "We didn't really have an answer for them there. We weren't strong at the rim and we weren't keeping our defense tight to keep them out of the lane. Once we started doing, they kicked it out for 3's. That was the difference."
 
After yielding a season-high 85 points on Wednesday night at Georgetown, the Wildcats put together a quality start at the defensive end, allowing VU to build a 7-2 lead through five minutes of game action. Xavier responded with five straight points to deadlock matters at seven.
 
The gritty defensive work along with some timely offense – including five straight points from freshman guard Jahvon Quinerly – helped the Wildcats grab an 18-11 lead through the first 12:06 of the period. One sequence in particular VU's work in the effort column as Saddiq Bey, Jermaine Samuels and Phil Booth each grabbed offensive rebounds on one Wildcats possession midway through the period. Samuels added one more for good measure to set up a short Booth jumper that pushed the advantage to 20-11.
 
Xavier got its offense rolling, connecting on two 3-pointers in a 12-5 burst that shaved the Wildcats' lead to 25-23 with 2:55 to play before halftime. The Wildcats' were able to get two stops in the final minute and took a 30-27 lead into the locker room.
 
Booth paced the 'Cats with 12 first half points. One key to taking a lead into the locker room was an 18-12 edge on the glass.
 
Xavier converted 8-of-14 in the first 9:40 of the second half and grabbed the lead at 46-44 on a Marshall basket. The Wildcats, meanwhile, were reliant on the 3-pointer, attempting 28 of their first 43 attempts from beyond the arc. As the game headed into the home stretch, Villanova was converting less than 40 percent of its field goal attempts.
 
A Marshall 3-pointer extended the Musketeers' lead to 49-44. Five more points made it a 13-0 run as the Wildcats fell behind 54-44 with 7:40 to play in the contest. The final score was 66-54.
 
"I don't think confidence is the issue," Wright stated of the second half struggles. "We're not executing the way we want to, not getting easy baskets off of our defense. It just makes every shot we take monumental. I thought we got some good looks but we didn't get any second shots in the second half."