‘Cats Bury Butler 82-42

The #14 Villanova Wildcats defeated the Butler Bulldogs in dominant fashion Sunday afternoon 82-42.

This match-up was basically over before it began with the ‘Cats jumping out to a 16-point lead just ten minutes into the contest. The lead would balloon to 20 at halftime. In the second frame, the ‘Cats held the Bulldogs to just 19 points - zero for the last 5 minutes of the game - while cruising to a 40-point win.

Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

The ‘Cats defense stifled the Bulldogs from the tip, holding the team to 31% from the field and 27% from deep. Butler had no answer for Villanova inside as the ‘Cats pulled down 35 total rebounds - including 28 on the defensive end.

On offense, Villanova had its way with the Bulldogs’ defense, shooting a blistering 60% from the field and 63% from deep on 21 assists. The ‘Cats attack was balanced - with approximately a 40%/40% split between 2P and 3P scoring - with the remaining 20% coming from another near-perfect performance at the charity stripe (14-15).

Collin Gillespie finished with 17 points on 5-6 shooting from beyond the arc. Justin Moore tallied 15 points while pulling down 7 rebounds and dishing out 5 assists. The combo of Jermaine Samuels and Eric Dixon was a force today - each pouring in 15 points and combining for 10 boards.

The game kicked off a friendly portion of Villanova’s schedule where the team will play 4 of its next five games at home with the lone road-trip being to DC. The ‘Cats will face Marquette this Wednesday at 8:00pm.

Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images