Eric Dixon poured in 24 points, Wooga Poplar 23 and Tyler Perkins 20 for Villanova, which broke away in the second half for an 80-68 win over visiting Xavier on Sunday in Philadelphia.
Dixon, the nation’s leading scorer at 23.8 points per game, had just two points before halftime but exploded for 15 straight Villanova points midway through the second half to turn the game in the Wildcats’ favor.
Poplar added a game-high eight rebounds as the Wildcats (14-10, 7-6 Big East) won their second straight game and moved into sole possession of fifth place in the conference.
Dante Maddox Jr. paced Xavier (14-10, 6-7) with 24 points, Zach Freemantle added 18 and Marcus Foster had 10. The Musketeers shot 49.1 percent overall but had an uncharacteristic 14 turnovers to Villanova’s eight.
Meanwhile, Villanova shot 50.9 percent overall and scorched the nets from deep, going 12 of 24 on 3-pointers. Poplar made 5 of 9 attempts from deep and Perkins hit 4 of 5.
The Musketeers began the second half 8-for-13 from the field to build a six-point advantage. Freemantle and Maddox each contributed six points in that span.
Perkins hit a quick 3 before Dixon’s heroic run began. Dixon pulled up on a fast break and made a triple to tie the game at 52-all. Then he went back and forth with Xavier, breaking tie scores with layups three times, the last one through contact for an and-one.
After Freemantle cut Xavier’s deficit to one, Dixon got yet another bucket to go while being fouled for a second three-point play. His personal run ended with two more free throws that gave Villanova a 64-58 advantage with 7:49 left.
Villanova’s lead was down to six with less than five minutes to go, but a 10-0 Wildcats run featuring 3s from Dixon and Perkins put the game out of reach.
Xavier embarked on an 8-0 run during the final five minutes of the first half. Maddox was fouled on a missed 3-pointer and went 3-for-3 on his free throws; on Xavier’s next possession, Maddox drained one from deep to make it 28-23, the largest lead of the half.
Perkins and Poplar powered Villanova’s response with back-to-back treys. Perkins’ rebound and putback in the final second evened the game at 33 entering intermission.
Maddox finished the game 4-of-6 shooting from the arc.
–Field Level Media
