No. 6 Villanova 81, Xavier 58: James Bell scored 27 points, grabbed eight rebounds and tied a career high with six 3-pointers as the host Wildcats pulled away in the second half to keep pace with Creighton in the Big East.

Darrun Hilliard added 17 points for Villanova (20-2, 8-1), which won its fourth in a row and remains tied with Creighton for first place in the conference. JayVaughn Pinkston added 11 points and eight boards for the Wildcats, who used a 15-4 run to take control early in the second half.

Semaj Christon scored 17 points to lead Xavier (15-7, 5-4) while Matt Stainbrook added 14 points and 11 rebounds. The Musketeers lost their third straight game after winning 10 of 11, shooting 37.7 percent from the field and committing 16 turnovers.

Xavier closed within three points early in the second half and trailed 36-32 with 16:17 remaining before Villanova dominated the next five minutes. Bell scored the Wildcats’ next eight points on a pair of 3-pointers and a layup and after a Hilliard 3-pointer, dunks from Bell and Dylan Ennis pushed the Villanova lead to 51-36 with 11:58 to play.

Villanova raced to a 9-0 lead and pushed the cushion to 14-4 on Pinkston’s 3-pointer a little more than six minutes into the contest. The Wildcats led by 11 with four minutes left in the half, but Christon scored six points to spark an 8-3 spurt to bring the Musketeers within 28-22 at the break.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Bell is averaging 21.3 points in his past six games after scoring in double figures just once in his previous seven contests. … Christon, who started the day shooting 58.8 percent in Big East play, finished 6-for-15 from the field. … Villanova, sparked by the efforts of Bell (6-of-10) and Pinkston (3-of-3), finished 11-for-28 from beyond the arc.