Duke Brennan and Acaden Lewis each posted double-doubles as host Villanova rode a trio of lengthy runs to a 91-78 win over Xavier on Saturday in the Big East regular-season finale for both teams.
Brennan recorded 20 points and 13 rebounds while Lewis collected 14 points and 12 assists for the Wildcats (24-7 overall, 15-5 Big East). Villanova is locked into the No. 3 seed in the Big East tournament and will face the winner of the No. 6 vs. No. 11 game in a quarterfinal on Thursday night.
Devin Askew (18 points, eight rebounds, seven assists) flirted with a triple-double and Tyler Perkins scored 18 points for the Wildcats, who shot 56.5% from the field.
Jovan Milicevic scored 21 points for Xavier (14-17 overall, 6-14), which will finish ninth or 10th. The Musketeers are slated to begin Big East tournament play with a first-round game on Wednesday.
Malik Messina-Moore and Filip Borovicanin had 14 points each while Isaiah Walker added 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds.
Messina-Moore opened the game with four straight points for Xavier, which tied the game for the last time when Borovicanin drained a 3-pointer with 16:33 left.
Askew hit a pair of 3-pointers as Villanova took control by going 5-of-5 from the field during a 14-0 run. Walker had six points as Xavier responded with a 14-6 surge to pull within 27-21 with 11:10 left.
But Brennan scored the next six points for the Wildcats, who went on a 15-2 run to take a 42-23 lead on Lewis’ layup with 2:33 left. The Musketeers were 1-of-12 with two turnovers during the Villanova surge.
Xavier scored nine of the final 11 points in the half to cut Villanova’s lead to 44-32 at intermission.
The Musketeers got within six points twice in the second half, the last time at 63-57 with 10:48 left after Milicevic hit consecutive 3-pointers. But Perkins answered with back-to-back 3-pointers to start an 11-0 run for the Wildcats, who maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way.
