Villanova Wildcats: Second win of the year over Xavier was crucial before March

Villanova avoided their third loss in four games by defeating Xavier 95-79 on Saturday.

Even though the Villanova Wildcats had little trouble against Xavier back in January when they were able to crush the Musketeers by 24 points, the circumstances were much different this time around for the Wildcats heading into Saturday’s game. After suffering a surprise loss to Providence a few days earlier, Villanova was all of a sudden at risk losing for the third time in four games if Jay Wright‘s team failed to come through against Xavier.

Not to mention, with the Musketeers entering the weekend as the No. 5 team in the country, another loss could have resulted in the Wildcats falling outside the top 10, which would have been a tough pill to swallow since it wasn’t long ago in which they were ranked the top team in the country. But thanks to big games from Donte DiVincenzo (21 points to go along with nine rebounds and nine assists) and Mikal Bridges (25 points), Villanova was able to come through with the big 95-79 win on the road against their Big East rivals.

By coming through with their second win of the season over the Musketeers, the Wildcats seem to be in much better shape than a few days ago when panic mode seemed like it was beginning to sink in. All season, Villanova has been considered one of the top teams to beat in the country with enough talent to potentially make a run for their second NCAA title in three seasons, but recent losses to Providence and St. John’s started to generate questions on whether this team was truly built for a deep tournament run.

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Thanks to Saturday’s win over Xavier, Villanova still seems to be in good enough shape to earn one of the No. 1 seeds come March when the 2018 NCAA Tournament officially gets underway. As long as guys like DiVincenzo and Bridges continue to play at a high level, the Wildcats are going to be one of the last teams anyone is going to want to play, especially when looking at how difficult they can be to stop when the 3-point shots are going in. Despite all of the concerns from a few days ago when the team seemed to be falling fast, Villanova deserves credit for making a statement when needed the most with their win over Xavier.