Villanova delivered an impressive, important win over Butler on Tuesday night. The ‘Cats executed offensively and managed to score against a very stout Butler defense while playing strong defense of their own for much of the game to secure the victory.

Once again, Villanova fell victim to a slow start, scoring just two points over the first six minutes and falling into an 8-2 hole. Fortunately, a couple quick threes can change things quickly, and that’s just what happened as Saddiq Bey and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl connected from deep to spark a 10-0 run for the ‘Cats.

From there, ‘Nova would slowly build the lead, taking a 36-26 lead into the break. Bey and Collin Gillespie struggled mightily, combining to shoot 3-18 for the half, but Robinson-Earl and Jermaine Samuels were there to pick up the slack, each scoring 10 points in the first half. Robinson-Earl added eight rebounds, while Samuels pulled in four boards.

‘Nova also hit the mark on each of our keys to the game: a 70-point pace (36 points), winning the battle from three (+9), winning the FT battle (+5), and winning or staying even in turnovers (even, two apiece). In addition, the Wildcats were dominant on the glass, outrebounding Butler 24-16 and pulling down eight offensive rebounds.

Bey did something right during halftime, as he opened the second half on a personal 7-0 run to build the Villanova lead to 17.

Unfortunately, the offense would go cold once again while the defense lapsed a bit, and Butler ripped off a 19-6 run to pull within four with 11:20 to go. But as they have many times this season, Villanova answered right back with an 11-2 push over the next six minutes to build the lead back to 13. From there, the Wildcats would dig in defensively and Butler would never truly threaten again. The ‘Cats led by as many as 18 before walking away with the 15-point victory, 76-61.

Five ‘Cats scored in double-figures with Samuels leading the way with 20. He added seven rebounds as well. Bey, Gillespie, and Justin Moore posted 14 points each. Bey added six rebounds, three assists, and two steals, Gillespie added seven assists and three rebounds, and Moore added three rebounds and three assists. Robinson-Earl posted another double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds. Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree chipped in two points and two rebounds off the bench.

‘Nova did a very good job on the glass, winning the rebounding battle 43-37 and pulling down 11 offensive rebounds. Butler had been dominant on the glass in Big East play and had done a good job all season keeping teams off the offensive glass.

The ‘Cats performed well in the four keys we laid out in our preview. We highlighted 70 as the magic number for them to score, and they got 76. They won the three-point battle by 12 and the free throw battle by 17. While that number is a bit inflated by late fouls as Butler tried to extend the game, it was an advantage the Wildcats carried throughout and they shot an impressive 91.3 percent from the charity stripe. They did lose the turnover battle, but only by one, and only committed six turnovers on the night.

The result was a solid win over the No. 13 team in the country. It will be a great mark on their resume and moved the ‘Cats two full games in front of Butler in the Big East standings.

‘Nova will look to keep things rolling on Saturday afternoon when it travels to Providence to take on the Friars.