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Wednesday’s Three Things to Know: Villanova dominates Xavier, Texas earns huge OT win

Xavier v Villanova

PHILADELPHIA, PA - JANUARY 10: Donte DiVincenzo #10 of the Villanova Wildcats bats a pass to a teammate against J.P. Macura #55 of the Xavier Musketeers during the second half at the Wells Fargo Center on January 10, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Villanova won 89-65. (Photo by Corey Perrine/Getty Images)

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Wednesday saw a relatively uneventful night in college hoops.

Although a few ranked teams played, and the Big East had a marquee matchup between top-10 teams, it was a relatively quiet night across the country.

Here’s a look at some of the storylines to come from Wednesday’s action.

1. VILLANOVA IS THE CLASS OF THE BIG EAST AFTER DRUBBING OF XAVIER

The only game between ranked teams on Wednesday night saw No. 1 Villanova obliterate No. 10 Xavier for a Big East home win.

While the Wildcats are the new No. 1 team in the country this week, Villanova has had some shaky defensive efforts in recent games. None of those issues were apparent on Wednesday night. The Wildcats jumped out to an early 18-6 lead and never looked back. Villanova’s defense looked markedly better.

CBT’s Rob Dauster goes over three takeaways from this one, including one thing that separates a team like Villanova from Xavier.

2. SHOULD WE BE WORRIED ABOUT MICHIGAN STATE AFTER OVERTIME WIN OVER RUTGERS?

Fresh off an upset loss to Ohio State over the weekend, No. 4 Michigan State took the floor at home against Big Ten bottomfeeder Rutgers.

The Spartans will certainly take the overtime win against the Scarlet Knights. But it was another concerning effort from the Spartans. Struggling to find consistency on the offensive end, Michigan State needed to give everything they had to get past Rutgers. Player of the Year candidate Miles Bridges didn’t even score until there was 7:43 left in the second half.

I’m not sure if it’s a mid-season lull or the difficulty of getting fired up over winter break. Either way, Michigan State needs to figure things out quickly to get out of this mini-funk.

3. DON’T COUNT OUT TEXAS JUST YET

Wednesday was an emotional roller coaster for the Texas men’s basketball program. Earlier in the day, it was announced that sophomore guard Andrew Jones was battling Leukemia. Then, before Wednesday night’s tip with TCU, the school announced that junior Kerwin Roach II would be out with a fractured left hand.

Down two double-figure scorers just hours before a game against a top-25 team is usually a recipe for disaster. But Texas played inspired ball Wednesday night on the way to a one-point, double-overtime win over No. 16 TCU.

Not only was the win an emotional lift for the Longhorns, but Texas desperately needed a win against a ranked team. Now that Texas has proven that they can still beat good teams without Jones and Roach, it’ll be interesting to see how they look in a very tight Big 12 race.

After the win, Texas honored Jones by holding up his jersey as they left the floor.