Ten years ago today, on Feb. 24, 2016, No. 5 Xavier beat No. 1 Villanova in front of a then-record 10,727 fans at Cintas Center. It was Xavier's first Big East win over Villanova since joining the conference in 2013 and remains the program's last victory over a No. 1-ranked team.
The first memory former Xavier head coach Chris Mack has of that night wasn't a whistle, a play or the final buzzer. It was the crowd.
"I won't ever forget sitting in the coaches' locker room before the game and hearing our crowd through the walls," Mack said. "It was loud. It never let up."
The pandemonium inside Cintas Center 10 years ago would be the backdrop to one of the most defining nights in Xavier basketball history.
The Musketeers' 90-83 victory over top-ranked Villanova changed how the program was viewed nationally and in the conference they had recently joined.
'Are we ready?'
Xavier was added to the Big East alongside Butler and Creighton in 2013. The power-conference jump after 18 seasons in the Atlantic-10 brought a mix of enthusiasm and uncertainty.
Athletic Director Greg Christopher recalls hearing both sentiments when he arrived at Xavier in May 2013.
"I heard these almost polar opposite comments from a lot of Xavier people that summer. Incredible excitement that we were joining the Big East," Christopher said. "The next sentence would be some version of, 'are we ready?' Almost like a little doubt."
Some of the doubt had been dispelled after Xavier went a combined 42-25 with two NCAA Tournament berths, including a Sweet 16 appearance, in its first two Big East seasons.
The Villanova hurdle still remained.
Under Jay Wright, the Wildcats were the gold standard of the league. In 2015, Villanova went 33-3, won Big East regular season and conference titles, and were a No. 1 seed in March Madness.
Villanova was 6-0 against Xavier as Big East rivals, winning by an average margin of 17.2 points.
The Pavilion (now called Finneran Pavilion) was a House of Horror for Xavier on an annual basis, on and off the court. Mack remembers the coaches' locker room that could fit just two people and featured a rusty drain in the middle of the floor.
"That drain and place still haunts me," he said.
On New Year's Eve earlier that season, Xavier was No. 6 in the country and 12-0 overall before a 95-64 loss to the No. 16 Wildcats. Worse than the 31-point drubbing was the image of point guard Edmond Sumner motionless near the baseline after a hard fall early in the game. He was removed from the court by a stretcher.
"It was honestly one of the scariest things," J.P. Macura said. "He essentially was unconscious. When that happens, you kind of lose focus on basketball."
Xavier radio analyst Byron Larkin recalls the entire Xavier bench surrounding their fallen teammate.
"There were a couple of Xavier parents who were praying for him," Larkin said. "They were just mentally gone after that."
The blowout came with an asterisk in Mack's mind after the loss of Sumner.
"We felt like it would be a different day for us at Cintas."
'One of the greatest feelings ever.'
By the mid-February rematch, Xavier had won 12 of 14 since the New Year's Eve loss. The Musketeers were deep and experienced. James Farr and Macura came off the bench; Trevon Bluiett was emerging as a star, Myles Davis was the ultimate, bucket-getting combo guard, Jalen Reynolds was the enforcer down low and Sumner was fully healthy.
They wanted to play fast, to rebound and run against a Villanova team that ranked No. 274 in tempo, according to KenPom.
"We wanted to get it more up-tempo to a more favorable pace for us at the time. We played very fast. We had the depth to do that," said then-assistant and current Miami RedHawks head coach Travis Steele.
Steele's defensive gameplan that night centered around switching Xavier's ball-screen defenses and limiting the Wildcats from the perimeter.
"If you give Ryan Arcidiacono and Jalen Brunson the same looks over and over again for 40 minutes, they're probably gonna dissect you," Steele said. "That kept you up at night. They would have games where they hit 18, 19 threes. They were super difficult to guard."
The rematch was billed as a heavyweight fight between a pair of top 5 teams and it delivered.
"It was a boxing match," Steele said. "We went back and forth a lot."
Early on, Xavier set the tone behind its crowd. Bluiett remembers a different vibe from the opening tip.
"That was the first time playing Villanova where we felt like we were dominant the whole game," he said.
Macura provided the first surge. A personal 7-0 run gave Xavier a 23-21 lead. Late in the first half, he hit 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions in front of the Villanova bench to give Xavier a 36-27 advantage and force a Jay Wright timeout.
"It was probably one of the greatest feelings ever," Macura said.
Sumner, who was 11 of 13 at the free-throw line, and Macura tied a team-high with 19 points. Bluiett had 10 points and Myles Davis had 16, nailing four triples. Xavier shot 50% from the field.
Beyond the box score, there were moments.
One sequence, a set called "Salute Spin," swung momentum for good. Villanova's Josh Hart knocked the ball away from Bluiett, but it ricocheted to Reynolds, who detonated an emphatic, rim-rattling slam to put Xavier up 10 with 6:24 left.
And of course, the decibel level that night was unparalleled.
"Probably one of the loudest, most energetic games I've done," Larkin said.
One word to describe the atmosphere? Christopher repeated "Electric." Bluiett chose the same. Macura, too. So did Mack.
Steele added: "As good as there ever was in college basketball."
'Xavier belonged.'
Christopher remembers glancing up at the television in his office and seeing the game discussed by Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon on "Pardon the Interruption."
"It helped cement that Xavier belonged in the Big East," Christopher said. "I don't mean that from a national perspective. I mean even within the Xavier community."
For years, Villanova had been the benchmark.
"They (Villanova) were like the big brother," Larkin said. "This was the first time Xavier was able to say, 'We're a good program, too. We can beat the likes of Villanova.'"
Xavier's 2015-16 season ended in heartbreak after a second-round loss to Wisconsin on a buzzer-beater, but the win over Villanova gave the program belief.
"Once the team has that confidence and sees they can win those games, it helps tremendously," Bluiett said.
The win over Villanova was a necessary step for what came next. In the pre-portal/NIL era, those rosters stayed together. Bluiett and Macura were both seniors two years later when Xavier won the Big East regular-season title.
"You grow together," Macura said. "When you have those special games, it helps you down the road."
Ten years later, the memories are vivid: a charged, record-setting crowd, Xavier's all-white uniforms under the bright lights, a swaying student section and a top-ranked giant finally toppled.
Those memories make up something larger. It remains Xavier's last win over a No. 1-ranked team. More than that, it was the night doubt disappeared. Xavier not only belonged in the Big East but could stand on top of it.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: 'Electric.' Xavier beat No. 1 Villanova 10 years ago today