The Xavier Musketeers had the defending Big East Tournament and National Champions on the ropes, but couldn’t knock them out.
The Musketeers had been known for the style of play that would make basketball traditionalists proud, the type of bully-ball post-up play that comes with having imposing big men and a strong frontcourt.
They had bullied the Villanova Wildcats for almost all 40 minutes of the game, but couldn’t put them away in regulation. Xavier was held to just one basket over the final 4:41 of play, as Villanova came back and tied it up with an Eric Paschall tip-in with seven seconds remaining in the game.