Well, that went about as poorly as we could have imagined. Xavier staggered out of the gate, led only briefly and then succumbed to an absolute barrage from the previously struggling Villanova shooters. Here is what we took away from that one:
This team is still a work in progress
A 12-0 start was always going to be difficult to maintain, but Big East competition is going to expose any weakness a team has, and Nova was brutal in doing so today. A 7-9 start from deep punished every even slightly slow closeout, while the Wildcats jammed the middle and forced Xavier to settle for jump shots extremely well on defense.