Villanova Basketball: 3 keys to success at home against Xavier in 2018-19

1. Villanova needs to do damage from 3-point land

The first big key for Villanova comes from the 3-point line. So far this season, the Wildcats have been a volume 3-point shooting team, attempting nearly 29 per game and, although they don’t shoot it particularly well at just 35.5%, their 488 attempts are the 14th-highest number in the sport, the 173 makes are 19th best, and their 10.2 makes per game are only behind Creighton in the Big East. In league play their percentage has climbed to 37%, making 42 total threes in their four league games.

Senior Phil Booth has hoisted up nearly 25% of the team’s attempts with 118. His total attempts (48), percentage (40.7) and makes per game (2.82) all rank in the top-100 of the nation. Aside from senior grad transfer Joe Cremo, who shoots the 3-ball at 42%, no other Wildcat shoots higher than 38.8%.

Luckily for Villanova, the Musketeers aren’t particularly good at defending the 3-point shot. They allow opponents to shoot 35.8% from deep, which is the 2nd-worst number in the conference. For Villanova, the key will be hitting a fair amount of their volume attempts from the perimeter.