Jay Wright earns 500th career victory as Villanova defeats Xavier
CINCINNATI - Jalen Brunson and Donte DiVincenzo scored 17 points apiece in Villanova's balanced offense on Saturday, and the second-ranked Wildcats led most of the way during a 73-57 victory over No. 24 Xavier, which suffered another significant injury.
Villanova (24-2, 11-2) won a matchup of the Big East's top two teams at the Cintas Center, where the Wildcats suffered one of their five losses last season on the way to a national championship.
The win was the 500th career victory for Villanova head coach Jay Wright, 378 of them coming with the Wildcats.
It was a costly game for Xavier (18-7, 8-4), which already is missing point guard Edmond Sumner to a torn ACL. Trevon Bluiett, who is second to Villanova's Josh Hart for the Big East lead in scoring, appeared to aggravate his sprained right ankle midway through the first half and had to be helped off the court.
Xavier led 12-11 when Bluiett got hurt. Villanova responded with an 11-0 run - Kris Jenkins hit two 3s - and the Wildcats didn't trail again. Bluiett failed to score for the first time in his three-year career. RaShid Gaston led the Musketeers with 23 points and 10 rebounds.
BIG PICTURE
Villanova: Senior forward Darryl Reynolds sat out with a rib injury that has left him day-to-day. He had started every game. Freshman forward Tim Delaney had hip surgery on Wednesday and is out indefinitely. He's been limited to seven games.
Xavier: The injury to Bluiett leaves the Musketeers not only at a huge disadvantage on offense but with little depth as well. Freshman point guard Quentin Goodin played a career-high 40 minutes on Saturday and was 1 for 14 from the field for three points.
UP NEXT
The Wildcats play at DePaul on Monday, the second of three straight road games. They struggled to beat DePaul at home during a 68-65 win on Dec. 28.
The Musketeers play at Providence on Wednesday, the first of three straight road games. They beat Providence 82-56 at the Cintas Center on Dec. 28.