Following a messy loss to St. John’s in which it recorded a season-high 29 fouls, Villanova had another defensive letdown Tuesday night in Cincinnati. Villanova’s 69-63 loss to Xavier (11-7, 3-4 Big East) was exacerbated by the four personal fouls it committed in the final minute.

Tonight, we finally broke through. I'm proud of our guys." After five losses by six points or less since Dec. 5, Xavier earns a hard-fought Quadrant 2 victory and pulls within one game of .500 (3-4) in Big East play before a tough stretch to end January.