Villanova opened the new year with an impressive comeback and resilient Big East win over Butler, 73-65, at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
Despite the Bulldogs holding a 13-point lead with six minutes and three seconds left to play, the Wildcats went on a 22-1 scoring run to reign victorious. Villanova had nine consecutive stops and held Butler to only a free throw in the final minutes of the game.
“We didn’t start where we wanted to start but we kept our heads up and kept battling, and we’re going to continue to do that,” head coach Kyle Neptune said postgame.
The top scorer of the game was graduate forward and NCAA leading scorer Eric Dixon. Finishing the night with 28 points, four rebounds and three assists, Dixon played all but one minute of the game. He scored 11 points in the first half, sinking three shots from outside the arc.
Senior guard Wooga Poplar scored 18 points for the ‘Cats with a game-high 15 rebounds. Senior guard Jordan Longino also contributed with 12 points and four rebounds, scoring nine during the game-winning scoring run. Longino also added on four assists and two steals.
Completing 14-of-16, Villanova pulled off 87.5% behind the free throw line. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs shot just 52.5% from the foul line.
On Butler’s side, graduate forward Jahmyl Telfort led the Bulldogs with 25 points.
After the Wildcats won the jump ball, Poplar put up the first points of the game for Villanova. Threes by Dixon and graduate guard Jhamir Brickus put Villanova up by five in the first three minutes. Not long after, Butler answered with another two consecutive threes to flip the lead.
Poplar was the only Wildcat to be fouled during the first half. He tacked on two points from the free throw line to tie the game at 11-11 with 14 minutes and 10 seconds left in the first half.
Freshman forward Josiah Moseley fell into foul trouble early on, committing two personal fouls within the first eight minutes of play. Longino ended the game with four fouls, which allowed the Bulldogs to add three free throw points.
With another personal foul against Brickus, the Wildcats allowed two points by Telfort to put the score at 12-14 at 11:59. The Bulldogs tied the score at 18 with nine minutes left in the half with another free throw. Butler managed two shots outside the arc to lead just 31-30 at halftime.
The teams continued to trade the lead early in the second half. Dixon ultimately sank three free throws by gaining a score of 33-34 at 18:41.
A jumper by McCaffery tied the score at 41 with 15 minutes left to play. To tie the score yet again, Dixon made another layup at 13:22.
Butler began to pull away later in the second half. A McCaffrey layup gave the Bulldogs their highest lead of the night, 64-51, with six minutes and 3 seconds left to play.
However, the ‘Cats managed to turn the game around and go on a rapid scoring run to close out the game. A Dixon three pointer gave the lead back to Villanova, 65-64, with just one minute and 35 seconds left.
“It’s got to be one game at a time, but this is a great win for our program,” Neptune said.
Despite a close scoreboard for most of the game, with the game tied eight times and 14 lead changes, Villanova took a defensive stand in the final minutes that led to the comeback win.
Villanova now has a record of 9-5. The Wildcats are part of a three-way tie for fourth place in the Big East, with a conference record of 2-1.
Villanova is scheduled to return to the Finneran Pavilion on Saturday, Jan. 4 where it will host DePaul (9-5, 0-3 Big East) at 12 p.m.
