Xavier reschedule offers tough road for Villanova

Villanova’s Big East battle with Xavier has been rescheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 13, the conference announced Tuesday.

The game was originally scheduled for Saturday in Cincinnati but was postponed when the fourth-ranked Wildcats paused team activities after two people within the program, including head coach Jay Wright, tested positive for COVID-19.

The Wildcats (8-1, 3-0 Big East) are riding a six-game winning streak. Five of those victories have been by double digits. Villanova moved up one spot in this week’s Associated Press Top 25. The Musketeers (8-1, 1-1) fell out of the top 25 after dropping a 66-61 decision to No. 11 Creighton last Wednesday.

The schedule changes give Villanova three road games in a four-game span, provided there are no other changes. The

Wildcats visit DePaul on Jan. 5 (7 p.m.), come home to face Marquette Jan. 8 (9 p.m.), visit the Musketeers for a 6:30 p.m. tipoff, then head to Storrs to play Connecticut on Jan. 15 (9 p.m.).

Villanova has not played since beating Marquette, 85-68, on Dec. 23. Villanova and St. John’s agreed to postpone a game that was scheduled for Dec. 30 so both teams could break for the Christmas holiday.

Meanwhile, the Villanova women’s team will play four Big East games on national television, it was announced Tuesday. The St. John’s game on Jan. 25 will be on FS1, while games at Xavier (Jan. 27), home versus Butler (Feb. 16) and Marquette (Feb. 27) will be on FS2. Villanova’s game against Connecticut on Jan. 16 can be seen on SNY.

The Wildcats (7-1) have been off since falling to the third-ranked Huskies, 90-52, on Dec. 22. Villanova hosts Georgetown Saturday afternoon at the Finneran Pavilion.