Villanova made sure there would be no Hinkle Fieldhouse shenanigans on Saturday, wrapping up the 2021-22 regular season with a convincing 78-59 win over Butler.
“Good win for us against a team that’s tough for us to play against because their similar to us in their style of play and it always gives us trouble,” Jay Wright said of the victory.
The final score wasn’t quite as lopsided as the first meeting between the teams, but the dominance of the performance was similar.
The Wildcats used a 20-1 run to blow the game open early, taking a 23-4 lead with 10:51 to go in the first half. Butler would never get within single digits again as the ‘Cats cruised to the win.
‘Nova used strong defense and solid offense to build the lead in the first half, holding Butler to 34.5% shooting overall and 14.3% shooting from 3 while hitting an even 50% of its own shots and 46.2% of its 3s.
The 3-ball was particularly helpful early, as 15 of Villanova’s first 23 points came from beyond the arc. Wright noted the importance of the 3 in helping Villanova get off to a good start, something that felt particularly important considering the team’s recent history at Hinkle.
“That was important to get off to a good start here,” Wright said. “I don’t think we’ve shot the ball well here many times but usually that’s because you’re playing against a team that’s a great defensive team. I thought some of the ones we hit early were tough ones. Justin hit a couple of step-backs. That’s what you need when you play on the road, you need big-time players that just make tough shots.”
The ‘Cats would lead by as many as 28 in the second half and led by 20+ from the 13:34 mark all the way until the final seconds. Butler used a 6-0 run to close the game to get the final margin down to 19.
‘Nova shot 49.2% overall for the game and 45.8% from 3. Butler hit just 36.4% overall and 20% from deep. The ‘Cats built a 38-27 advantage on the boards and converted that into a 14-4 edge in second-chance points. They had a 30-24 advantage in the paint and an impressive 29-15 edge in bench points.
Caleb Daniels continued to make an impact off the bench with 11 points and four rebounds, but the story of the day was a bit of a breakout day for Jordan Longino. Longino finished with a career-high 10 points and a career-high (and team-high) seven rebounds in 22 minutes. Chris Arcidiacono chipped in eight points.
“They’ve been working hard, this is the culmination of them really working hard in practice,” Wright said of Longino and Arcidiacono. “We needed them today and they delivered, I was really proud of them.”
As for the starters, Collin Gillespie finished his final regular season game at Villanova with 11 points and four assists. Jermaine Samuels had a strong final regular season game with 15 points and four rebounds. Justin Moore added 16 points and five rebounds while Brandon Slater chipped in seven points.
Wright noted that Gillespie and Moore were both coming off consecutive days of practicing for the first time in two-and-a-half weeks, something he felt really helped the rhythm of the team.
“We were a lot more connected having these guys in practice for a couple of days,” Wright said.
It was a nice way to wrap up the regular season. In addition to playing well and getting the big win, the ‘Cats were able to re-establish their depth a little bit and get some momentum for guys like Longino and Arcidiacono. Ideally, it will give the team a nice springboard into the Big East Tournament.
The Wildcats finish the season with a solid 23-7 record after playing one of the toughest schedules in the country. They finished 7-5 against top 25 competition. They also posted an impressive 16-4 mark in a strong Big East, tying the school record for conference wins. Now, they’ll look to add a Big East Tournament title to the resume before taking their shot at another national title in the NCAA Tournament.
