CINCINNATI (AP) — Quincy Olivari’s 14 points helped Xavier defeat Villanova 56-53 on Wednesday night.
Dailyn Swain threw down a dunk with 4:18 left to break a tie at 50 and Xavier led the rest of the way.
Olivari also contributed eight rebounds for the Musketeers (13-10, 7-5 Big East Conference). Desmond Claude scored 11 points while going 5 of 14 (1 for 7 from 3-point range), and added six rebounds and six assists. Dayvion McKnight had nine points and was 4 of 13 shooting (1 for 4 from 3-point range).
Brendan Hausen led the way for the Wildcats (12-11, 5-7) with 15 points. Eric Dixon added 13 points for Villanova. Hakim Hart also had seven points and two steals.
Olivari scored nine points in the first half and Xavier went into the break trailing 28-26. Xavier used a 9-0 second-half run to come back from a two-point deficit and take the lead at 42-35 with 10:34 left.
Xavier plays Saturday against Creighton at home, and Villanova hosts Seton Hall on Sunday.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.