On Tuesday, Feb. 17, Villanova men’s basketball defeated Xavier University, 92-89, while on the road in Cincinnati, OH.
The win is the Wildcat’s (21-5, 12-3 Big East) 21st win of the season, extending them to a six game win streak and a 7-1 Big East record on the road.
“This group works hard, and they’re a fun group to be around,” head coach Kevin Willard said. “I think they like being together on the road, and that shows.”
Senior forward Duke Brennan earned his twelfth double-double of the season with 10 points and 13 rebounds.
Brennan’s double-double record for the season falls only two short of Michael Bradley’s (‘01) program record of 14 double-doubles during the 2000-2001 season.
Brennan was among five Wildcats who scored double-digit points.
Freshman guard Acaden Lewis led the Wildcats with 21 points. Junior guard Tyler Perkins followed, scoring 17 points. Redshirt sophomore guard Bryce Lindsay scored 15 points and redshirt freshman Matt Hodge totalled 10 points.
Lindsay’s 15 points mark his best performance in twelve games.
“I’m proud of him,” Lewis said about his teammate Lindsay. “It’s not easy to go through big slumps like this when you’re playing on national TV and everyone expects so much of him.”
Graduate forward Tre Caroll led the Musketeers with 28 points and 10 rebounds, tying his season-high in rebounds and earning his second double-double of the season.
Sophomore forward Jovan Milicevic followed for the Musketeers, totaling 20 points and nine rebounds.
The Wildcats went 33-for-75 (44%) on field goal attempts, 12-for-34 (35%) on three-pointers and 12-for-22 (64%) at the free throw line. In comparison, the Musketeers went 34-for-67 (51%), 10-for-23 (43%) on three pointers and 11-for-13 (85%) at the free throw line.
Following tip-off, the Wildcats struggled offensively.
Xavier (13-3, 5-10 Big East), on the other hand, asserted offensive dominance, scoring five of its first six field goal attempts and one of its two three-point attempts.
Sophomore forward Jovan Milicevic rallied the Musketeers’ offense, scoring eight of his 12 first half points in the game’s opening minutes.
Midway through the first half, the Wildcats found momentum when redshirt freshman center Braden Pierce, followed by an Askew three-pointer, to help the Wildcats tie the game at18-18.
Shortly after, Villanova found its first lead of the game, continuing a 10 point scoring run over 2:47.
“I thought our bench came in and played really well during that first half,” Willard said. “Our starters have logged a lot of minutes and this pace is tough, and I thought our bench guys did a great job of getting us back in the game.”
With just under three minutes left in the first half, the Wildcats pulled nine points away from Xavier.
The Musketeers managed to chip away at the Villanova lead, before the half ended with a one-point Wildcat advantage of 43-42.
Coming out of halftime, Villanova established control, tallying 15 points in the first five minutes of the second half.
The Musketeers responded, going on a 8-2 run with twelve minutes remaining in the half to keep it a close game.
With just under six minutes left in the game a Milicevic three-pointer gave Xavier the equalizer, 75-75. Then, a Walker layup gave the Musketeers their first lead of the second half, 77-75.
Villanova took the lead again before the final two and a half minutes of the game turned into a back-and-forth battle.
With four seconds remaining, Xavier tied up the score with a layup, 81-81, sending the game to overtime.
In overtime, Villanova maintained control, capitalizing on fouls during a nail biting, 90-89, final 10 seconds to secure a 92-89 victory.
“I think we’re just built for it,” Lewis said about overtime. “We’ve been through the fire..first game of the year was BYU in Las Vegas, so we’re used to it at this point. We’ve been in arenas that are away, loud and have boos…we’re getting really good on the road for that reason.”
Villanova will return back to PA, taking on the No. 5 University of Connecticut (24-2, 14-1 Big East) on Saturday, Feb. 21 at the Xfinity Mobile Arena.
During their last meeting in late January, the teams went to overtime, before the Huskies took a 75-67 win at home. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on TNT and TruTV.
