Three Takeaways from Villanova’s win over Xavier

Villanova used a dominant second half to get a badly needed 71-58 win over Xavier on Tuesday night. Here are some key takeaways from the game as the Cats head into an 8 day Christmas break.

Villanova is still the Big East favorite

Coming off back-to-back 20 point losses for the first time in the Jay Wright era, this was as close to a must-win as any December game could be. After being dominated by unranked Creighton on Friday night, it was fair to wonder whether Villanova was headed for depths not seen in nearly a decade.

In terms of a get-well game, Xavier in the Pavilion looked like exactly what the doctor ordered. Despite Xavier being a consistently good team, Villanova had won all 7 of the…