VILLANOVA, Pa. – What began as a dream start for Xavier Tuesday at Villanova, turned into a nightmare in the second half.
The Musketeers went from a dominant opening 20 minutes to being dominated over the final 20 minutes as No. 23 Villanova overcame a 38-30 halftime deficit to beat No. 18 Xavier 71-58 at Finneran Pavilion, a place the Wildcats have only lost one conference game in since Big East Conference realignment in the 2013-14 season.
Xavier turned the ball over five times in the first half and had three turnovers in the first 75 seconds of the second half as all the momentum it worked so hard to build evaporated one play after another.
"I thought we had some ridiculous turnovers in the second half," said Xavier coach Travis Steele, whose team had as many turnovers (eight) as field goals made in the second half (8-for-27). "You set the tone like that, coming out of the half against a good team like Villanova, you're not gonna win."
Villanova started the second half on a 12-3 run while Xavier played some of the most careless basketball it's played all season. The Musketeers finished with 13 turnovers, and once it got sloppy, Villanova seized control and it felt like Xavier was running uphill in quicksand the rest of the night.
Everything that went right in the first half went wrong in the second half.
