Overview
 
Villanova's five starters all scored in double figures as the Wildcats outlasted Xavier 92-89 in overtime on Tuesday night at the Cintas Center.
 
Bryce Lindsay hit a huge 3-pointer in overtime to snap an 83-83 tie. The Wildcats never trailed and overcame a 28-point effort from Tre Carroll, including a trio of 3-pointers to post their seventh win in eight BIG EAST road games this season.
 
"I thought our bench really came in and played well in the first half," said Villanova head coach Kevin Willard. "Our starters have logged a lot of minutes. But the pace Xavier plays at it is really fast and that makes it tough. The bench guys came in and did a great job. They got us back in the game."
 
The Wildcats held off a series of Xavier runs. An Acaden Lewis attempt near the end of regulation was short, sending the game to overtime. Villanova improved to 2-1 in extra time this season.
 
"We've been through some fire," said Lewis. "We've got seven road wins. Our first game of the year was against BYU in Las Vegas. We've been in some loud arenas. We're growing up in front of everyone's eyes."
 
Musketeers Get an Early Spurt
 
Villanova scored first on a Duke Brennan drive, but Xavier responded with an 11-0 surge over 2:24 to force a Wildcats' timeout after 2:58 of action. Acaden Lewis helped get the 'Cats offense flowing and helped shave the gap to 14-8 with four points. There was 14:45 to play in the first half.
 
Xavier held an 18-13 lead midway through the period.
 
Reserves Rise
 
Villanova's bench brigade has increasingly made its presence felt and, on this night, it helped flip the script. It began with a nifty feed from Chris Jeffrey for a Braden Pierce. That was followed by a Devin Askew 3-pointers on consecutive possessions. Later, sophomore Malachi Palmer added a 3-pointer.
 
"We didn't get many stops out there, the starting five," Lewis said. "The speed of the game kind of got to us. A bunch of guys just came in and changed the whole game. It got us into a rhythm when we came back into the game."
 
The Wildcats held a 30-22 lead at the 7:46 mark of the first half.
 
Palmer and Askew were each whistled for their second personal foul as the Musketeers drew back to within 32-27 with 3:51 remaining in the period. Yet the duo remained in the game, and each sank a 3-pointer to push the Nova edge to 38-29.
 
The Xavier transition game produced a burst that resembled the game's opening minutes. It closed the half on a 13-5 run to cut Villanova's lead to 43-42 at halftime.
 
Lewis paced Villanova with 11 points while Askew added nine – on a trio of triples. Tre Carroll scored 11 of his 13 points over the final minutes of the period.
 
The Wildcats finished the half with 11 assists on 16 field goals. Xavier ended the period with 14 helpers on 18 field goals.
 
Second Act
 
After converting just 5-of-17 from deep in the first half, Villanova drained 3-of-5 in the opening minutes of the second half. Matt Hodge sank two and Bryce Lindsay another as part of a 15-8 surge over the first 5:32 of the period to extend the lead to 58-50.
 
Xavier, however, used an 8-2 burst fueled by Jovan Milicevic to narrow the deficit at the 12:25 mark. Villanova called its second timeout of the evening at that point.
 
Lindsay – with a pair of triples – and Lewis helped the Wildcats hold the lead, despite a potent Xavier attack led by Carroll. With 7:33 on the second half clock, Villanova held a 73-70 lead.
 
Nova got the lead to 75-70 but the Musketeers scored the next five points to tie the contest at 75 with the second half clock dipping below the four minute mark.
 
The Musketeers found a cutting Isaiah Walker for a basket to regain the lead, 77-75. A Lewis free throw at the three-minute mark cut the lead to 77-76 before a Tyler Perkins steal and score gave Nova the lead back at 78-77. Three Perkins free throws made it 81-77 but Xavier scored on a short jumper and a putback to tie it at 81 with 4.1 seconds to play in regulation.
 
The Wildcats got a quality look after a Xavier intentional foul near halfcourt but a runner attempted by Lewis was short.
 
Overtime
 
Another huge 3-pointer from Lindsay gave Villanova an 86-83 and a Lewis basket made it 88-83 as the game hit the one-minute mark to play. But another deep Carroll 3-pointer with 44.6 seconds left, closed the margin to 88-86. The Wildcats never surrendered that advantage, overcoming a Carroll 3-pointer that pulled Xavier to within 90-89.
 
What They Said
 
Willard: "We're going to take a lot of 3's. We had 24 assists and only six turnovers, which was great."