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

By Jason Burgess

VILLANOVA, PA - NOVEMBER 06: Jermaine Samuels #23 of the Villanova Wildcats celebrates with Jahvon Quinerly #1 against the Morgan State Bears at Finneran Pavilion on November 6, 2018 in Villanova, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
VILLANOVA, PA - NOVEMBER 06: Jermaine Samuels #23 of the Villanova Wildcats celebrates with Jahvon Quinerly #1 against the Morgan State Bears at Finneran Pavilion on November 6, 2018 in Villanova, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /
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BOSTON, MA – MARCH 23: Phil Booth #5 of the Villanova Wildcats dribbles against Lamont West #15 of the West Virginia Mountaineers during the second half in the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament East Regional at TD Garden on March 23, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA – MARCH 23: Phil Booth #5 of the Villanova Wildcats dribbles against Lamont West #15 of the West Virginia Mountaineers during the second half in the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament East Regional at TD Garden on March 23, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /

2. They must get offense from guys besides Booth and Paschall

As a team, the Wildcats score over 75 points per game, but that number has grown to 77 during their current five-game winning streak. A big key for them will be getting their points from different players as seniors Booth and Eric Paschall have led the team in scoring in 13 of their 17 games and sophomore Collin Gillespie has led them in two others, meaning only twice has someone outside the top three scorers led the team.

Booth and Paschall have combined to average 34.7 of the team’s 75 points, adding to that Gillespie’s 10.9 points, meaning that the rest of the roster that has played in at least 10 games this season has averaged 31.4 points on the season.

Right now Villanova sits atop the Big East but, for them to be successful not only in this game but going forward they are going to have to be able to rely less on Booth and Paschall for their offense. The more attention teams have to pay to someone other than those two, the better it will be for the team, as well as for Booth and Paschall. Becoming the team that people thought they had in the preseason.