Big East Conference Redefined After No. 5 Xavier Beats No. 1 Villanova 90-83

Cincinnati has long been a cradle for college basketball, with the city’s two big-time rivals separated by only three miles.

Big East Conference Redefined After No. 5 Xavier Beats No. 1 Villanova 90-83

It thus seems fitting that, 37 years after David Gavitt founded the old Big East Conference, this conference was finally redefined.

The No. 5 Xavier Musketeers secured a 90-83 home victory over the No. 1 Villanova Wildcats on Wednesday night at the Cintas Center in Cincinnati. Both top-five teams have real shots at being one-seeds in the NCAA Tournament — which would mark the first time a conference has had multiple one-seeds since 2009.

“If you’re a college basketball fan, you tuned in tonight,” Xavier head coach Chris Mack said. “You saw some high-level basketball. You saw some teams competing their tails off. You saw some players that are going to play at the next level at some point for both sides.”

The arena also saw the largest crowd ever, counting 10,727 fans.

“You dream about this,” said Xavier’s freshman point guard Edmond Sumner, who had a career-high nine assists and 19 points during the game. “So when the opportunity comes, it just comes naturally.”

Villanova had only 10 turnovers, but a Xavier defenseman was right there every time to capitalize on them, proving the strength of the Musketeers’ defense.

In Xavier’s time in the Big East, the Musketeers have played the Wildcats six times. Until Wednesday, they lost every single time, and by an average of 17.2 points. The win must have thus meant that much more to Xavier, which was still referred to as a mid-major school up until a few years ago.

The Wildcats started strong, with Jalen Brunson getting in the lane and Kris Jenkins hitting threes. However, after an early seven-point Villanova run, Mack called a timeout, and Xavier’s defense tightened up after that. J.P. Macura came off the bench and scored 19 points for Xavier, nearly outscoring Villanova’s entire bench just by himself.

“March is coming up,” said Xavier guard Myles Davis, one of six Musketeers players who scored in double digits. “We still got time to get better. The ceiling is through the roof.”

Xavier can certainly become a strong contender for the Final Four if it continues to improve next month.

“I never wanna lose but I’m glad where if we’re gonna lose, we lose to a good Big East team,” Villanova Coach Jay Wright said. “I’m glad No. 1 and No. 5 was Xavier and Villanova, not somebody else from some other league.”

Caption: CINCINNATI, OH – FEBRUARY 24: Jalen Reynolds #1 of the Xavier Musketeers dunks the ball during the 90-83 win over the Villanova Wildcats at Cintas Center on February 24, 2016 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)