How Villanova approaches hostile Xavier arena

CINCINNATI - If it's a Saturday afternoon in the Big East, it must be sixth-ranked Villanova on the road in a hostile environment, the target of a packed arena full of loud fans and an opponent that can salvage a bad season or enhance its NCAA chances with a win over the Wildcats.

Villanova had this scenario each of the last two Saturdays, picking up victories at Butler and at Marquette, and now heads into a matchup against Xavier at the Cintas Center, where the Musketeers are 202-29 (.874) in the 15 years of the building's existence.

The Wildcats (26-2, 13-2) need a win or a Georgetown loss at St. John's to clinch the regular-season conference championship and the No. 1 seed in the Big East tournament. Given the noise and the atmosphere, and the fact that the Musketeers might have the best combined inside-outside attack in the league, it won't be easy.

"I do think we're starting to get used to it, I really do," 'Nova coach Jay Wright said Friday. "And I really admire that in our guys. I know for myself it's hard. Even just walking out there knowing they're going to boo you and yell at you, I'm not even playing but I'm thinking about it.

"Our guys, I think they handle it really well. I think this is a challenge to see how long we can do this. How long can we keep getting up for every challenge on the road for a team's biggest game? I have confidence in our guys."

Junior center Daniel Ochefu said that the coaches try to simulate a road venue not so much with noise as with adversity during practice.

"When we're on the [first] team, all the calls are going against us, we're not getting fouls," he said. "If the [second] team has a play, it might be a six-point play for them. So it's just working on having our backs against the wall and things like that in practice. Coach makes it as hard as possible."

The Wildcats knocked down 15 three-point baskets - still a season high - in their 88-75 victory over Xavier on Jan. 14 at the Pavilion. But the Musketeers outscored the Cats in the paint, 46-18, and Wright said his team must do a much better job with its interior defense against Xavier big men Matt Stainbrook and Jalen Reynolds.

"We just made shots but we were not good defensively," Wright said. "That was the beginning of our slip defensively. I think we've gotten better and we're going to see. These guys have a great inside-out game. They've got Reynolds and Stainbrook inside and they've got a ton of perimeter shooters. There's not too many teams we play like this."

Like Villanova, the Musketeers have terrific scoring balance with their top six scorers ranging from 8.5 to 12.3 points per game. The Wildcats have six players in the 8.9 to 14.7 points per game range headed by Darrun Hilliard.