Villanova continued its very good stretch of basketball, beating Butler 80-72 on Tuesday night. It was a very steady performance by the ‘Cats, who are now 6-0 in conference play and three games clear of every Big East team except Marquette, who is a game back.

The first half was very evenly played, with Villanova leading by as many as eight and Butler leading by as many as three. The half saw 11 lead changes, and when the dust settled ‘Nova held a four-point lead.

A 7-2 run by the Bulldogs to open the second half gave them a one-point lead, 44-43, their first lead since 23-22. ‘Nova responded with a 12-0 spurt to take an 11-point lead with just over 14 minutes to play. Butler would get no closer than five the rest of the way and Villanova earned a solid eight-point win.

Eric Paschall and Phil Booth again led the way, scoring 23 and 17 respectively. The senior leaders got support from Saddiq Bey (10 points, seven rebounds), Collin Gillespie (11 points), and Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree (10 points, eight rebounds). Joe Cremo added seven points and made some key plays down the stretch, and although Jermaine Samuels was quiet statistically (two points, three rebounds) he made some key contributions late as well while continuing to bring energy.

Although there were a couple glaring breakdowns caused by Butler’s movement, overall it was an encouraging defensive performance. The ‘Cats limited to Kamar Baldwin to just 11 points on 5-14 shooting and held the Bulldogs to 37.9 percent from 3. They kept Joey Brunk in check in the post and earned a slight advantage on the glass.

You have to be pleased with the performance, earning a win in a tough environment against a team that had the ability to give ‘Nova difficulty. The game plan was very good, and the team did a good job executing it. The ‘Cats have now won seven in a row and have put themselves in excellent position.

They’ll look to keep it going on Sunday when they host Seton Hall.