No. 8 Villanova fails to Butler

Villanova had a chance to inch closer to its seventh Big East regular-season title in the last eight years Sunday afternoon.

A win would have put the eight-ranked Wildcats three games up on Creighton in the loss column with two to play. More importantly, a victory would have improved Villanova’s winning percentage in the league to 84.6. The Wildcats would have had to win just one of its last two games against Creighton or Providence, no easy task, to finish with the best winning percentage and secure the regularseason crown and the top seed in the Big East tournament.

All they had to do was beat a sub-.500 Butler team they had beaten by 19 points in December.

Bulldog guards Chuck Harris and Jair Bolden didn’t let that happen.

The duo combined for 35 points and spearheaded a defensive effort that held Villanova to its worst shooting day from 3-point range in Jay Wright’s 20-years on the Main Line in a 7361 victory over the eighthranked Wildcats at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Harris scored 15 of his 20 points in the first half to stake the Bulldogs to a 34-24 lead at the break. Bolden tallied 12 of his 15 points after to break to end any chance that the Wildcats would mount a comeback.

“Their guards just dominated the game,” Wright said. “I know (Bryce) Golden and (Bruce) Nze did a good job, but a lot of it came from their guards and the attention we had to give to them, especially Bolden and Harris. We just couldn’t control them.”

Harris and Bolden were just as deadly on the defensive end as the Bulldogs forced the Wildcats (15-4 overall, 10-3 Big East) into a 2-for-27 nightmare from deep. That translates to 7.4 percent. The two triples were the fewest the Wildcats made in a game since they had just one in a 7871 victory over St. John’s on Jan. 13, 2018.

No one was immune to the struggles, especially the guards. Justin Moore and Caleb Daniels both went —for-6 and finished with 10 points each. Collin Gillespie was 1-for-5 and netted 14 points. Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (16 points, 16 rebounds) and Jermaine Samuels both were 0-for-4.