City of Basketball Love

Stephen Pianovich (@SPianovich)
--

Villanova got 22 points from Josh Hart and overcame a sluggish first half to top No. 18 Bulter on Sunday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse. It’s the fourth straight win for the No. 11 Wildcats to open Big East play, and they remain as the lone unbeaten team in the conference.

At first…
There was not a lot of offense early on from either team. Butler led, 14-13, at the under-8 timeout in the first half, which came just after Villanova ended a three-minute scoreless drought. Butler ended the half on a 6-2 run, which loomed large given the low scores, and was up 27-21 at the intermission.

Turning point…
Butler gave itself a seven-point lead early in the second half at 31-24, but that’s when Jay Wright called a timeout. After that huddle, Villanova went on a 14-0 run. The Wildcats got a pair of 3-pointers during the stretch – one from Phil Booth, another from Mikal Bridges – and held Butler scoreless for about six minutes.

Shining stars…
Hart led all scorers and went 10-for-15 from the field and also had a double-double with 11 rebounds. Hart’s biggest play of the game came with about four minutes left as he saved an offensive rebound right near the baseline. After the save, Ryan Arcidiacono found Hart for a layup which put the Wildcats up by seven. Hart hit two free throws on the next possession to essentially put the game away.

Roosevelt Jones had a team-high 20 points for Butler, which lost its third Big East affair.

Noteworthy number…
55.
Butler entered the game as the eighth-best scoring team in the country, but Villanova held the Bulldogs to just 55 points – a season-low for Butler. Villanova flustered Butler to a 35.8 shooting percentage on its home floor, and the Bulldogs made just three of their 15 3-point attempts.

Up next…
Villanova (14-2, 4-0) vs. Marquette (1/13, 8:30 p.m.)
Butler (12-4, 1-3) vs. St. John’s (1/16, Noon)