Mikal Bridges Had 25 Points in Saturday's Win at Xavier.
MBB Minute -- No. 3 Villanova Wins Showdown at No. 4 Xavier
In a battle between top five teams, No. 3 Villanova held off a second-half comeback by No. 4 Xavier and nailed down a 95-79 victory at Cintas Center, which was packed with 10,777 fans. The Musketeers are still in first place by a half game with a 12-3 record to the Wildcats’ 11-3, but Villanova has swept the season series which will give them an edge in tiebreakers.
Villanova (24-3) shot 60.3 percent from the field and was 16-of-34 from 3-point range. Mikal Bridges led six Wildcats in double figures with 25 points. He shot 10-of-15 from the floor. Donte DiVincenzo added 21 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. Jalen Brunson finished with 11 points, eight assists and no turnovers in 37 minutes. The Wildcats led 51-37 at the break. Xavier (24-4) got as close as three points on two occasions in the second half.
After the game, Xavier coach Chris Mack said of Villanova, “They played like a national championship team today.”
Trevon Bluiett scored a game-high 26 points and moved into second place on the school’s all-time scoring list with 2,140 points. J.P. Macura added 14 points. It was Xavier's first loss at home this season.
Butler ended a three-game losing streak by defeating Providence 69-54 at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Trailing 35-33 at halftime, the Bulldogs (18-10, 8-7) held the Friars to 15.6 percent shooting in the second half and outscored the PC 36-19. Kelan Martin scored a game-high 19 points and Paul Jorgensen added 12 points for the Bulldogs. Alpha Diallo and Maliek White each had 11 points for Providence (17-10, 8-6).
In a game where both teams shot 56 percent from the field and made 11 3-pointers, Marquette (15-11, 6-8) scored a 90-86 win at Creighton in front of 18,485 fans, the 10th largest crowd in CenturyLink Center history. Sacar Anim notched a career scoring high with 26 points, including the go-ahead basket with 1:14 play. Anim’s contributions were needed after Markus Howard suffered a hip injury in the first half and did not return. Andrew Rowsey scored 21 points and dealt eight assists. Khyri Thomas hit a career scoring high with 26 points for the Bluejays (19-8, 8-6).
Seton Hall hosts DePaul in the lone game on the Sunday schedule. The Pirates (17-9, 6-7) want to end a four-game losing streak. DePaul (10-15, 3-10) has had all three of its BIG EAST wins come on the road. FS1 will televise the game at 1 p.m. ET.