For the second time this season, Xavier tried to play one half of basketball against Villanova, and just like the first meeting, it didn't work.
The Musketeers, ranked No. 17 in the Associated Press poll, dug themselves a 17-point hole in the first half and spent the second half trying to climb out of it. They almost did, but it was too little, too late as No. 14 Villanova held on, 64-60, Wednesday night at Cintas Center.
"You can't dig yourself a hole like we did tonight against a really good team," Xavier head coach Travis Steele said after the game. "We made a run which is a good sign for us, it shows the character that we have in that locker room. But we gotta be better early. We have to be better. Their physicality, again, it's the same thing every year ... they're gonna be really physical.
"... We had to finish a little bit better around the rim, especially early. I thought we had some good looks at 3s, unfortunately, they didn't go in."
The damage was done at both ends of the floor. Xavier missed open shots, didn't pose much resistance defensively, and the Wildcats dominated the glass in the first half with 12 second-chance points.
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The Musketeers shot 7-of-25 in the first half (2-for-12 from 3) and they got pushed around. That's why the Wildcats led 38-27 at the break.
The second half was a different story. Steele said it started with the final four minutes in the first half when Xavier was able to get a little bit of momentum heading into intermission.
Steele said the tide turned when "We finally saw the ball go in. I thought we attached our offense to our defense too much. Really between about that 15-minute mark to five-minute mark in the first half. (Villanova) had some good looks. I thought they had some wide-open looks. We weren't contesting hard enough. We weren't finishing around the rim. We were missing some good shots. And listen, good teams don't do that. You can't attach your offense to your defense and I thought our guys flipped that."
Xavier trailed 54-42 with 10:09 left when the Musketeers made their run. Xavier put together a 10-0 run that cut the deficit to 54-52 with 4:14 to go.
In the middle of that run, Steele made a lineup change. Jack Nunge entered the game for Zach Freemantle, who had another rough night at both ends of the floor, and the Musketeers elected to go small with Nunge, Colby Jones, Nate Johnson, Adam Kunkel and Paul Scruggs for the rest of the game.
Steele said he went with that lineup to try and space Villanova out so they could drive the ball.
"To try to put as many shooters and playmakers out there as we could," said Steele when asked about the lineup change. "Colby did a great job rebounding and he gives you that ability to play small and Jack's obviously big around the rim as well. They're a great defensive team. They try to take you out of all your stuff by switching one through five and I thought that (lineup) would give us our best chance to win."
Scruggs hit two 3-pointers late, one which tied the game, 56-56, with 2:17 left. After a three-point play from Villanova's Justin Moore at the other end, Jones missed a wide-open 3 and Villanova collected the rebound and drew another foul to make it 60-56 with 1:08 to play.
Nunge added a pair of free throws to make it 60-58 and then Villanova turned the ball over with 29 seconds left.
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Xavier called timeout to set up a play. Steele said they drew up an action for Scruggs to get to his right hand and attack the rim, but Scruggs couldn't finish. Moore grabbed the rebound, Xavier fouled and Moore hit both free throws to make it 62-58. Scruggs added a lay-up with 10 seconds left and the Musketeers tried to deny Villanova's inbounds pass but were unsuccessful. Moore went back to the line and hit two more free throws to essentially put the game out of reach with six seconds left.
Scruggs and Johnson finished with 15 points each but Xavier went 7-of-17 on lay-ups and finished 5-of-24 from beyond the arc.
On a night when the Musketeers turned the ball over only six times, it's painfully clear that putting two halves of basketball together and making a few more shots around the rim would have been more than enough to win.
Xavier falls to 12-3 overall and 2-2 in Big East play. The Musketeers host Creighton on Saturday at noon.
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