Justin Moore scored 12 of his 17 points in the second half, and No. 23 Villanova outscored No. 18 Xavier 41-20 after halftime on its way to a 71-58 win Tuesday night in Villanova, Pa.
The Wildcats (8-4, 1-1 Big East) also got 12 second-half points from Caleb Daniels, who had 16 for the game, in winning at Finneran Pavilion for the 28th consecutive time. Villanova has won 10 of the last 12 meetings with Xavier (11-2).
Dwon Odom led the Musketeers with 13 points and Nate Johnson added 12.
Eric Dixon had 15 points with eight rebounds for Villanova, which won with strong second-half defense after trailing by 10 with 5 1/2 minutes left in the first half.
Xavier knocked down its first six 3-pointers of the game, three from Johnson, who had 11 points in the first half.
Odom wasn’t trying to shoot a 3 with 10:24 left in the half, appearing to throw a pass for a lob at the rim. The ball went through the net on a line drive for the Musketeers’ fifth consecutive trey, and Odom laughed out loud as he backpedaled up the court.
The Wildcats struggled from long range in the first half, making just 1 of 10 attempts. But they were energized by a driving dunk from Daniels with three seconds left until halftime.
The momentum was palpable to start the second half. Villanova opened on a 12-3 run to take the lead on Dixon’s layup with 14:02 to play. Xavier had six turnovers during that stretch.
The teams exchanged small leads or were tied until Daniels hit a tie-breaking 3-pointer with 5:35 to go, giving Villanova a 54-51 lead. Then Collin Gillespie made a trey less than a minute later for a 57-51 lead.
Odom’s layup off a steal made it 57-55, but the Wildcats scored the next eight points and put the game away. Moore’s drive and layup made it 65-55 with 1:32 to play, and Xavier ran out of time.
–Field Level Media
