There was very little that was normal about Wednesday night for Villanova. It was their latest home opener in nearly 30 years, they were having that opener without fans in attendance, their opponent had only played a single game all season at did so three weeks ago, and to top it off there was a snowstorm happening. By the end of the night, at least a bit of normalcy had been restored as the ‘Cats earned an 85-66 win over Butler and Jay Wright had his 600th career victory.

Butler certainly didn’t show any signs of rust after its long layoff, starting off shooting over 70% from the field and building a seven-point lead five minutes into the game. “They were tough for us to guard early,” Wright said of the early defensive struggles. “Really quick guards, really good off the dribble. I just don’t think we’re simulating that well in practice. We gotta get creative as coaches and figure out a way to do that. I think once we get settled in and get a feel for the speed and quickness, we’re better.”

It was another somewhat slow start by the ‘Cats, something Collin Gillespie knows they need to improve upon. “That’s something we have to work on, we have to get better at,” Gillespie said. “We can’t afford to just start games slow and not set the tone, and not be locked in on the defensive end or locked in on the scout, we have to be a lot better.” The senior leader thinks it will improve with time and knows he and his teammates will put the work in. “I think that’s gonna come with the season, we’re gonna grow and learn from it,” Gillespie said. “We’re gonna come back tomorrow and watch film and learn from different situations how we can be better to start games.”

Fortunately, Villanova was able to match the hot offense, erasing the deficit in just over two minutes. The teams traded blows for a while, but Butler’s offense eventually cooled, and the Wildcats were able to open a 10-point lead with 2:30 to go in the half before taking a seven-point advantage into the break. The Bulldogs scored 24 points over the first 10:17 of the game but just 10 over the final 9:43 of the half.

Villanova finished the half shooting 55.6% from the floor while Butler connected on 52%. Both teams hit 4-9 (44%) from beyond the arc. ‘Nova was 7-8 from the line while Butler was just 4-9. The ‘Cats also had a 12-5 advantage in points off turnovers and a 9-1 advantage on second-chance points.

Butler would close to within two early in the second half, but ‘Nova would respond and build the lead back to eight with 12:28 to go. The Bulldogs wouldn’t threaten again. Villanova took its largest lead of the game (12) with 4:49 to go and would continue to extend the lead to as much as 20 before ultimately taking a 19-point win.

The Wildcats were dominant in points off turnovers (21-7) and second-chance points (16-3)

Overall, the offense was very good. The ‘Cats shot 50% from the field and 43.5% from 3, earning a nine-point advantage from beyond the arc. ‘Nova assisted on 18 of 29 made baskets, committed just six turnovers, and grabbed nine offensive rebounds. Wright was pleased with the offensive execution: “I’m happy about that (the turnover number),” Wright said. “They (Butler) play a unique style of defense and they’re really good. If you’re not careful you can take a lot of bad shots against them. I thought the turnovers were great, but I was really happy with our shot selection.”

After the first 10 or so minutes of the game, the defense was solid as well. Butler finished the game hitting 48.9% from the field and a solid 46.7% from 3. But Villanova forced 15 turnovers and outrebounded Butler 33-28. The ‘Cats only surrendered five offensive rebounds. After the 24 points Butler scored over the first 10 minutes of the game, it managed just 42 over the next 30 minutes.

Wright credited his bench for helping to turn the tide defensively: “I thought Brandon Slater, Cole Swider, and Eric Dixon came off the bench and gave us a real defensive spark, which was great. I think their size was a factor defensively and they rebounded really well. I was proud of those three really helping us defensively.”

Considering the abundance of quirky circumstances surrounding the game, especially the challenges of preparing for an opponent who has only played one game and who had four players you hadn’t seen yet, it was a solid performance from the Wildcats.

“Good win,” Wright said. I was proud of our guys, really good team effort.”

Stats:

Jermaine Samuels: 12 points, six rebounds, two assists (3-7 FG, 0-0 3PT, 6-7 FT)

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl: 18 points, five rebounds, four assists (8-12 FG, 2-3 3PT, 0-0 FT)

Collin Gillespie: 18 points, one rebound, five assists, one steal (5-9 FG, 2-4 3PT, 6-6 FT)

Justin Moore: 13 points, five rebounds, two assists (5-12 FG, 1-3 3PT, 2-2 FT)

Caleb Daniels: Eight points, three rebounds, four assists, one block (3-11 FG, 2-7 3PT, 0-1 FT)

Cole Swider: Eight points, two rebounds, one assist, one steal (3-6 FG, 2-5 3PT, 0-0 FT)

Brandon Slater: Three points, two rebounds (1-1 FG, 1-1 3PT, 0-2 FT)

Eric Dixon: Five points, four rebounds (1-1 FG, 0-0 3PT, 3-4 FT)