Xavier University Athletics
Xavier University
20-12
Villanova
31-2
Musketeers Fall to Villanova in the BIG EAST Championship Game
03.14.15 | Men's Basketball
Final Stats | Box Score
| Photo Gallery
NEW YORK, N.Y. - In its first appearance in the BIG EAST Championship game, the Xavier men's basketball team fell, 69-52, to the top-seeded Villanova Wildcats (32-2; 16-2 BIG EAST) on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden. The sixth-seeded Musketeers (21-13; 9-9 BIG EAST) faced each of top three seeds in the tournament, knocking off the three-seed Butler Bulldogs, 67-61, in overtime and then topping two-seed Georgetown Hoyas, 65-63, to earn a spot in the championship game.
After strong second half performances against the Wildcats, Dee Davis and Jalen Reynolds finished with a team-high 13 points. Reynolds' second half performance helped earn a spot on the 2015 BIG EAST All-Tournament Team. Reynolds finished the three-game stretch with 33 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks off the bench.
To open the game against Villanova, the Musketeers took an early lead after Remy Abell scored four quick points off of two VU turnovers to put Xavier up, 4-3, before the Wildcats used a 10-2 run to take control of the game.
After Villanova started 6-of-12 from the floor to build as much as a seven-point lead in the early going, VU hit just one of its next five shot from the field, helping the Musketeers to climb to within three, 17-14, with 7:31 minutes left before halftime.
The Wildcats responded, putting together a 13-2 run over the next two minutes take a 30-16 lead with three minutes remaining in the half. VU led by as many as 16 in the first half, but a three pointer from Abell with 40 seconds remaining before halftime, the Musketeers' first three of the game, cut the Villanova advantage to 13, 34-21, going into the break.
Abell led the Musketeers with seven points in the first half. The Musketeers hit 10-of-30 shots from the floor in the first half, including hitting just 14 percent of its shots from outside. The Wildcats finished the half shooting 52 percent. After starting the half 1-of-6 from three, Villanova hit four of its last five shots from outside over the last 9:25 of the half to help build its advantage.
Out of halftime, Villanova opened up with an 8-0 run to push its lead out to 21, 42-21, with just over two minutes gone from the half. After finding itself with its largest deficit of the day, Xavier answered with an 8-2 run to cut the lead to 15, 44-29.
The Wildcats maintained a comfortable lead, with the Musketeers getting to within 14 after a seven point outburst from Jalen Reynolds cut the lead to 54-40 with 11 minutes remaining. After a bucket from Villanova's Dylan Ennis, a Dee Davis basket and-one got the Musketeers within 13, 54-41, the closest the Musketeers would get in the second half.
After Xavier cut the lead to 13, Ennis, who led all scorers with 16 points, hit a three to extend the lead back to 16. The Wildcats maintained a 16- to 20- point advantage until the final horn when Villanova took the 17-point win, 69-52.
Dee Davis went 5-for-5 from the free throw line in the second half, scoring 11 of his 13 after the break. Reynolds scored nine of his 13 points in the second half, shooting 4-of-5 from the floor after halftime. James Farr grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, but he Wildcats won the battle of the boards, 35-29.
The Musketeers now await the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Selection Show, broadcast on CBS at 6:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 15. Xavier has competed in eight of the last nine NCAA Tournaments. Stay tuned to GoXavier.com for more information.
