For the second-straight game in a row, Villanova’s opponent pulled away in the closing minutes. Xavier’s Ryan Conwell dropped 34 points, including 13 of the Musketeers’ final 14 points of the game.
For the second straight game in row, Villanova saw one slip away from its fingertips.
Perhaps slip away might not be the right words, but rather Xavier’s Ryan Conwell spearheaded a late surge to strip the game away from the Wildcats.
Conwell dropped a game-high 34 points, which included 13 points during the Musketeers’ 14-5 run to seal their 69-63 win over the Wildcats at the Cintas Center on Tuesday night.
“He just really got it going,” Villanova coach Kyle Neptune said of Conwell. “He made some tough ones, but we just didn’t stay connected to him.”
Villanova’s Enoch Boakye had a dunk to give the ‘Cats a 58-55 lead with 1:51 remaining.
Conwell responded with the go-ahead four-point play to give the Musketeers their first lead of the second half and spark the 14-5 run. Conwell’s game-tying three-point shot was good, but he was fouled during the attempt by Kris Parker, which allowed him to add a foul shot for the lead.
The Wildcats couldn’t muster much offense down the stretch. It didn’t help that right after Conwell’s four-point play, Villanova turned the ball over on a traveling call. Xavier rode the momentum and Conwell hit another three to make it a two-possession game, 62-58, with 54 seconds left.
Villanova only had one made shot over the last 1:50 to play and it didn’t come until Jhamir Brickus hit a three-pointer when the game was virtually over with 11 seconds left.
“You’re on the road going against a good team,” Neptune said. “Things aren’t going to go your way all the time. It’s got to be a full 40 minutes. Our turnovers were a factor. I think they did a good job getting into our guys and forced us into some areas we didn’t want to be in. They were very physical and forced some key turnovers.”
The Wildcats had a 32-24 halftime lead, after initially starting slow.
The Musketeers raced out to a 13-4 lead, before Villanova started to settle into the game with a 9-0 run to tie things up. It was a back-and-forth battle the rest of the half, until the ‘Cats had an 11-1 run to extend their lead to as much as 10 points in the closing seconds before the break.
Conwell hit a buzzer-beating layup to close the first half and cut the Wildcats’ lead down to eight.
Conwell exploded for the Musketeers in the second half. 28 of his game-high 34 points came after halftime. He shot 8-of-13 overall, 6-for-10 from deep and 12-of-14 from the free-throw line. Dayvion McKnight and Zach Freemantle each had 10 points.
For the Wildcats, Jordan Longino and Eric Dixon each had 18 points. Wooga Poplar had 14 points before fouling out.
Villanova drops to 11-7 overall and 4-3 in Big East action. The ‘Cats return home for a two-game homestand that begins with a Friday night showdown against Providence at the Wells Fargo Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.