Villanova will look to stay perfect in Big East play when it faces Butler Tuesday night.

The Bulldogs enter the game with a 12-7 record and are 3-3 in the Big East. They’ve beaten Creighton, DePaul, and St. John’s and lost to Georgetown, Seton Hall, and Xavier.

Butler has been solid offensively, scoring 0.967 points per possession, which ranks them in the 82nd percentile per Synergy Sports. Butler ranks “very good” or “excellent” in six of the 10 play types that Synergy tracks. The only types where they don’t rank that highly are in the post (good), scoring on offensive rebounds (poor), isolations (good), and off screens (below average).

The majority of Butler’s offense comes from spots ups and utilizing the pick and roll ballhandler, and they rank “excellent” and “very good” in those categories respectively. The Bulldogs have netted 1.113 points per possession in spot up situations, which ranks them in the 97th percentile.

Another area of concern for Villanova’s defense is the 1.344 points per possession Butler scores off cuts (95th percentile). Cuts have only made up 6.4 percent of Butler’s offense, but when combined with the pick and roll and other screening action the number jumps to 30 percent. ‘Nova has struggled at times guarding motion this season, and we’ve seen the Butler offense give much better defensive Villanova teams fits.

Kamar Baldwin leads the way with 17.7 points per game. Paul Jorgensen adds 12.7, Sean McDermott 10.4 and Jordan Tucker 10.4.

If Tucker sounds familiar, it’s because it’s the same Jordan Tucker that was once believed to be down to a choice between Villanova and Indiana before a late Duke push lured him to the Blue Devils. Ultimately, he ended up transferring to Butler, and now he is coming off his best two games at the collegiate level. Against DePaul, he finished with 19 points and eight rebounds while shooting 5-8 from 3. He followed that up with 24 points and six rebounds on 6-11 from 3 in Butler’s win over St. John’s. The Bulldogs are 4-1 when Tucker reaches double figures.

Baldwin is also coming off his best game of the season, a 30-point, eight rebound effort against St. John’s. He’s averaging 23.2 points over his last five games. He was held to single-digit scoring in two of Butler’s seven losses and has scored in double figures in all of its wins. Baldwin shot worse than his season average of 44.6 percent in six of those seven losses and was held under 40 percent in five of them.

Tucker, Jorgensen, and McDermott all shoot better than 40 percent from 3.

Joey Brunk (8.8 ppg) has had success in the post. Brunk, Nate Fowler (4.8 ppg) and Aaron Thompson (6.2) have excelled as cutters. Brunk has been a very effective roll man out of the pick and roll.

The ‘Nova defense will have its hands full. We’ve already mentioned that the Bulldogs’ motion has proven problematic for Villanova, and Butler can do a lot of different things, with Tucker, Jorgensen, and McDermott as legit threats from deep, Brunk being effective in the post and in the pick and roll game, and Baldwin with an elite ability to get to the rim.

As you can see, Baldwin does a lot of damage around the rim and in the midrange.

Defensively Butler hasn’t been quite as good, surrendering 0.882 points per possession and ranking in the 50th percentile.

The Bulldogs have struggled to guard shooters at times and have been susceptible in the post and defending screens and handoffs.

Overall Thompson and Tucker have been the most effective individual defenders, while McDermott, Brunk, Fowler, and Henry Baddley have had the most difficulty on the defensive end.

Baldwin and McDermott have struggled with shooters. McDermott has been exposed covering the pick and roll ballhandler. Fowler and Brunk have had trouble containing the roll man, and Butler has been poor as a team defending the post.

The Bulldogs have been good guarding isolations and have done well as a team defending the pick and roll despite some individual deficiencies.

Offensively ball movement will be key for Villanova. If Butler plays its usual defensive game, we wouldn’t expect the ‘Cats to be able to get a whole lot out of isolations. Depending on the matchups, the ‘Cats could look to probe the pick and roll, and it will be interesting to see if they try to put Brunk and Fowler in those situations. But generally good, quick ball movement should be the focus offensively.

As we mentioned, there will be a lot for ‘Nova to think about defensively. One key will be limiting Baldwin’s dribble penetration. The ‘Cats will have to stay close to Tucker, Jorgensen, and McDermott on the perimeter and work to limit Brunk in the post, but really Baldwin needs to be the focus. If he can get to the rim at will and continually collapse the defense, it could turn into a long night as Baldwin feasts near the basket or sends the ‘Nova defense scrambling with drives and kicks.

Butler isn’t where it wants to be in terms of its record and finds itself in the middle of a jumbled Big East. With two games each remaining against ‘Nova and Marquette, Butler’s margin for error is shrinking if they hope to earn an at-large bid to the Big Dance. A win on Tuesday would give those hopes a big boost.

Butler should show up ready to play, and their current position combined with the tough environment at Hinkle Fieldhouse and some of the challenges the Bulldogs present to Villanova’s defense creates a stiff challenge for the Wildcats. It will be interesting to see how the ‘Cats respond.