VILLANOVA, Pa. – No. 18 Xavier used a 53-point second half to propel it to an 88-80 victory over Villanova in a BIG EAST Conference matchup Saturday at Finneran Pavilion. The win was Xavier's first at Villanova since joining the BIG EAST in 2013 (the Wildcats claimed the previous nine meetings).
 
Zach Freemantle led all scorers with 29 points for Xavier (13-3 overall, 5-0 BIG EAST) while freshman Cam Whitmore netted a season-high 26 points for Villanova. Caleb Daniels added 23 points for the Wildcats (8-8 overall, 2-3 BIG EAST).
 
"That was a hard-fought Big East battle," stated Villanova head coach Kyle Neptune. "I thought we had our chances down the stretch. Unfortunately, we didn't execute at 100 percent playing against an excellent team. A lot of credit goes to Xavier. They played a really good game."
 
Five early points by Daniels helped the Wildcats forge a 7-7 tie with the Musketeers after 4:03 of the first half. A 9-0 Xavier run, fueled by six points in the paint and a 3-pointer from the wing by Adam Kunkel staked it to a 16-7 lead six minutes into the contest.
 
Consecutive buckets by Whitmore pulled Villanova to within 16-11 though 8:54 of the first half. At that point, the 'Cats were just 5-of-16 from the field (.313), including 1-of-7 from beyond the 3-point arc. Kunkel and Colby Jones led a balanced Xavier attack with eight points each.
 
Xavier connected on 16-of-31 first half field goal attempts (.516). Villanova, meanwhile, was 12-of-30 from the field over the first 20 minutes (.400).
 
But the 'Cats defense helped it slow the Musketeers during an important first-half span. When Whitmore sank a 3-pointer from the left corner, Villanova was back on top 20-18.  In that span the Wildcats forced four Xavier turnovers and limited it to 1-of-8 shooting from the floor. There was 7:46 to play until halftime.
 
The two teams settled into a defensive battle with Xavier holding a 26-24 edge at the 3:54 mark of the first period. However, Xavier closed the period on an 11-5 burst, sinking 4-of-5 field goal attempts, to grab a 35-31 lead after 20 minutes.
 
Whitmore led Villanova with 12 points while Dixon added 10 points.
 
The Wildcats pulled even at 44 on another Whitmore triple. Yet Xavier scored the next five points to grab a 49-44 lead with 14:28 to play in the period. A Brandon Slater wing 3-pointer closed the gap to 49-47 before the Musketeers got a Souley Boum 3-pointer to push the margin back to five, 52-47.
 
Another 3-ball, this one by Kunkel, made it 55-47 as the clock went below the 12-minute mark. Xavier made eight of its first 11 field goal attempts to start the second half. When the Wildcats called time out at the 8:32 mark, Xavier's lead was 59-50 as the Musketeers held VU to 1-of-8 shooting over a stretch of three plus minutes.
 
When Dixon scored inside, the 'Cats had narrowed the deficit to 61-57 before Zach Freemantle sank a 3-pointer with 5:30 remaining to extend the lead to 64-57. An inside Freemantle bucket made it 66-57 and then the forward added another 3-pointer, this one from the right corner to match one from Caleb Daniels. Xavier's lead was 69-60 with 3:51 to play.
 
In spite of its best efforts, the Wildcats couldn't slow a Xavier attack that produced 31 field goals on 22 assists. It connected on .544 of its field goal attempts, including 9-of-19 (.474) from beyond the arc. Boum contributed 22 points, with 17 of those coming in the second half, along with 10 rebounds.
 
"They're an elite offensive team," said Neptune. "They can beat you in transition. Not only do they have options, they have a lot of different ways they can beat you. They can beat you in ball screens, they can beat you in isolation. They are a pretty complete team."
 
On Monday, the 'Cats will travel to Chicago for a pair of road games. The first comes Tuesday night at DePaul (9 p.m./CBS Sports Network) and will be followed by a Friday night duel at Butler (7 p.m./FS1).