{{pageModel.leagueAbbr}} {{pageModel.subtitle}} | Las Vegas Review-Journal
National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Villanova 77, Butler 67
When: 2:30 PM ET, Saturday, February 20, 2016
Where: The Pavilion, Villanova, Pennsylvania
Officials: # Jeff Clark, # Pat Driscoll, # Paul Szelc
Attendance: 6500

VILLANOVA, Pa. -- On No. 1 Villanova's senior day, two juniors led the way.

While a sold-out crowd at the Pavilion was there to honor five seniors in their second-to-last game at the suburban Philadelphia school's on-campus arena, junior forward Kris Jenkins and junior guard Josh Hart combined for 42 points to lift Villanova to its seventh win in a row, 77-67 over Butler.

"It was a typical Villanova-Butler game, they are just always a tough matchup for us," Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "Not pretty, but if you're looking for pretty you're not going to beat Butler. We'll just take it and move on."

Hart had a game-high 22 points to go along with 12 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season. Jenkins added 20 points, three off his career best, and collected six rebounds to reach double figures in scoring for the sixth time in the last seven games.

After scoring a combined 11 points in two prior games -- the only two games all year he has failed to reach double digits -- Hart bounced back with his fourth 20-point outing of the year. He credited the resurgence to a conversation he had earlier in the week with Wright.

"Just talked about valuing myself about doing more than just scoring the basketball," Hart said. "Not defining myself by scoring, defining myself by rebounding, giving energy, playing defense, doing all those little things. When you do those little things, everything else just opens up for you."

Hart and Jenkins' efforts were crucial on a day when Villanova's only scholarship seniors, guard Ryan Arcidiacono and forward Daniel Ochefu, were limited to 15 points on 4-of-11 shooting.

With their team trailing by two nine minutes out of the half after a slow start to the second half, Hart and Jenkins combined for 16 straight points for the Wildcats during a 16-6 run that put Villanova up 59-51.

"We were just focused on playing Villanova basketball," Hart said. "It wasn't (that) we were going to do it for Ryan and Daniel ... it was just, we were going to do this because this is what we do."

Soon after, Hart's feed to third-year sophomore Darryl Reynolds for a dunk followed by Jenkins's 3-pointer pushed the advantage to 11 with 5:26 to play.

Butler never got closer than eight the rest of the way.

"I give a lot of credit to Villanova for the way they played," Bulldogs coach Chris Holtmann said. "We knew tonight was going to be a terrific challenge, playing here on senior day. It's a challenge any day, but especially when you're playing with a group that's as well put together as Jay's group is."

Sophomore forward Kelan Martin led Butler with 19 points, senior guard Kellen Dunham added 16 and senior swingman Roosevelt Jones had 13.

Against a staunch Villanova defense, Butler shot only 38.7 percent (24 of 62), including 6 of 19 (31.6 percent) from 3-point range, well below the team's average of 37.8 percent.

"I think we did some really good things today, I think we had some really good moments," Holtmann said. "I loved our life coming out of halftime, I thought our second half was really smart and intelligent, the way we played. I thought we did some really good things, we just didn't do enough good things, particularly defensively."

The Wildcats were 25 of 54 (46.3 percent) overall but only 8 of 26 (30.8 percent) on 3-point attempts.

After a 7-0 run gave Butler a one-point lead with 6:53 left in the first half, Villanova responded with a 12-0 spurt, capped by guard Jalen Brunson's 3-pointer that made it 28-17 with 3:33 until halftime.

Butler got a healthy dose of momentum heading into halftime thanks to Martin's buzzer-beating 3-pointer that cut Villanova's lead to nine. The Bulldogs rode that wave to a 12-2 run to start the second half, taking a 37-36 lead by another 3-ball from Martin.

NOTES: This was Villanova's first-ever game in its on-campus Pavilion as the top-ranked team in the country. The Wildcats' only other home game since achieving the ranking, against St. John's last Saturday, was played at the Wells Fargo Center, home of the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers. ... Villanova leads the all-time series against Butler, 7-0, including a 6-0 mark since the Bulldogs joined the Big East three years ago. ... Villanova honored five seniors before the game: starters Daniel Ochefu and Ryan Arcidiacono, plus walk-ons Kevin Rafferty, Henry Lowe and Patrick Farrell.
Top Game Performances
 
Butler   Villanova
Kelan Martin 19 Scoring Josh Hart 22
Tyler Wideman 3 Assists Ryan Arcidiacono 9
Kellen Dunham 8 Rebounds Josh Hart 12
Roosevelt Jones 4 Free Throws Made Phil Booth 5
Jackson Davis 1 Steals Jalen Brunson 2
Roosevelt Jones 1 Blocks Kris Jenkins 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Butler 67 38.7 6-19 13-22 11 33 1 5 7
Villanova 77 46.3 8-26 19-21 18 34 7 3 8