Wednesday night at the Finn turned into a whirlwind for Villanova. Essentially, the game was a microcosm of the rollercoaster that the entire season has been so far. There was some of the very good Villanova and some of the not so good Villanova. Various issues that have popped up throughout the season reared their ugly heads, while tenets of “Villanova basketball” that appeared to be missing at points earlier this season shined through. When the dust settled, Villanova had escaped with a 66-65 win over Xavier.

Villanova played well at both ends of the court in the first half, but the score didn’t fully reflect its efforts.

The Wildcats held Xavier to 30.6% shooting overall and 25% from three. They had an 11-4 advantage in second-chance points and were +9 from beyond the arc. ‘Nova did a great job dissecting the Xavier defense and generating good looks while playing tough, connected defense on the other end. Despite all of that, the ‘Cats held just a five-point halftime lead.

The main culprit was continued struggles putting the ball in the basket. ‘Nova missed its first five shots of the game and didn’t score until the 16:45 mark. The ‘Cats managed to hit five of their next nine attempts, but suffered through another 1-for-8 stretch later in the half that coincided with a near-four-minute drought. Hakim Hart, who was again stellar defensively in the first half, produced a personal 5-0 run to end the drought. All told, the ‘Cats shot just 39.4% in the first half. The shooting struggles, combined with six turnovers to Xavier’s three, limited the overall impact of Villanova’s strong play.

The solid play generally continued to start the second half, with ‘Nova pushing the lead to 10 with 15:22 to play. The ‘Cats did suffer through another drought, this one lasting 3:30, that resulted largely from far too much dribbling and some turnovers. Xavier, however, was unable to fully capitalize, only trimming the ‘Nova lead to six before a Hart three ended the dry spell and pushed the lead back to nine.

The relief would be short-lived, though, as Villanova fell back into the “hard to make sense of what you’re seeing” mode that characterized some of the teams early play this season.

With just under seven minutes to play and holding a six-point lead, Villanova surrendered three offensive rebounds on a single possession, ultimately conceding a layup. Instead of closing out a much-needed stop and earning a chance to extend the lead to three possessions, the Wildcats found themselves up just four.

Jordan Longino temporarily saved the day on the ensuing possession, hitting a three and drawing a foul for the rare four-point play to double Villanova’s lead back to eight with 6:07 to go.

But the offensive struggles that have become so familiar emerged again, as ‘Nova suffered through yet another 1-10 stretch that produced another extended drought, this one lasting 4:24. This time, aided by more rebounding struggles from ‘Nova, the Musketeers were able to take advantage, scoring seven straight points and closing to within one with just over two minutes left.

An pair of free throws from Eric Dixon stopped the run and put the ‘Cats up three, but two free throws from Xavier cut the lead back to one with 1:24 to go. A Villanova turnover gave the ball back to Xavier with just over a minute to play. ‘Nova was able to get a stop, but was unable to score on the ensuing possession, giving the Musketeers yet another chance to take the lead. The ‘Nova defense again rose to the occasion, getting another stop. Dixon hit two more free throws to push the lead back to three before ‘Nova conceded a layup with five seconds to go, clinging to a one-point lead. Dixon then missed two free throws, giving Xavier one final chance to steal the game. The final shot missed, and ‘Nova escaped with a one-point lead.

“We were going against a good team,” Kyle Neptune said of the late struggles offensively. “They locked in defensively. You’re going back and forth for a good amount of the game, they get used to what you’re doing, they start taking it away. It gets tougher and tougher towards the end of the game.”

Neptune also refused to use the absence of Justin Moore as an excuse for the offensive issues.

“We just gotta execute,” Neptune said. “You’re never gonna play a perfect game. Teams make it tough for you. We’re playing in the Big East, you’re going against a really good coach, you’re going against talented players. They scout you, they know what you do. We can definitely be better, but the thing we can control is playing harder than them.”

Let’s just touch on a couple notes from the near collapse. First, unlike the offensive struggles that we’ve seen at other points in the season, including Wednesday’s first half, the issues over the final 10 minutes weren’t simply a matter of shot-making. We’ve seen ‘Nova generate quality shots but struggle to convert them, but during this stretch Wednesday night the offense struggled to produce anything of substance. The ‘Cats weren’t just missing good shots, they weren’t getting good shots. Sometimes, they weren’t getting any shots at all, producing uninspired, empty possessions that ended in turnovers. Second, a sudden inability to clean the defensive glass nearly doomed the ‘Cats. After holding Xaiver to six offensive rebounds and holding an 11-4 advantage in second-chance points in the first half, Villanova conceded nine offensive rebounds in the second half, many at crucial junctures. The Musketeers grabbed 50% of their offensive rebound opportunities in the second half.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom. For 30 minutes, Villanova played very well. The ‘Cats were particularly good defensively, holding Xavier to 36.8% shooting overall and 27.8% from three. They did a good job on the glass in the first half, and as we noted the offense was pretty good despite the poor shooting. ‘Nova also got balanced contributions, with eight players scoring, with three reaching double figures and two more scoring eight points.

We lamented at points earlier this season that Villanova wasn’t living up to “Villanova basketball” tenets, but on Wednesday the ‘Cats rode the defense to a win, overcoming offensive struggles with strong defensive play. They also did well to hold it together as the wheels appeared to be falling off down the stretch, making just enough plays to get it done.

Basketball is not a beauty contest, and the wins all look the same in the record. And with Seton Hall upsetting Providence earlier on Wednesday night, Villanova’s win put the ‘Cats on top of the Big East standings and left them as the only unbeaten team in conference play.

Coach will certainly take it.

“I was definitely proud of the way we competed,” Neptune said. “We really defended. Take away some offensive rebounds, I love the way we defended. If we defend like that, if we can clean up the rebounding, we’ll be in a great spot.

He’s not wrong.

Next up is a home date with St. John’s on Saturday.