The heavyweight clash between third-ranked Villanova at fourth-ranked Xavier basketball lived up to the hype.
Villanova lived up to its billing as the prideful defending Big East champion in defeating Xavier, the Wildcats' latest title challenger, 95-79, at Cintas Center Saturday before a crowd of 10,777.
Villanova methodically picked Xavier apart in the first half and built a lead as large as 19. Redshirt junior Mikal Bridges went off for 16 points and 4 of 5 shooting from 3-point range in the period.
Bridges went on to finish with 25 points.
As a team, Villanova shot 11 of 19 from 3-point range and about 60 percent from the field.