Villanova overcomes slow start to beat Butler, extend winning streak

It wasn’t always pretty, but Villanova men’s basketball extended its winning streak to five and preserved its undefeated Big East record with a 85-67 road win against Butler on Saturday in Indianapolis.

The Wildcats (12-2, 3-0) got out to a slow and sometimes sloppy start, which allowed Butler (10-5, 1-3) to take an early lead. Villanova turned the ball over seven times within the first nine minutes and trailed Butler by as many as nine points in the first half.

However, Villanova poured in 55 points in the second half, nearly doubling its first-half scoring performance to put the game away.

“I think sometimes when you have a young team, getting them to understand maybe just being a little bit more purposeful on the offensive end early in games,” said Villanova coach Kevin Willard. “I just thought we came out a little bit too casual to start. The turnovers kind of let us get down, but I felt we came out with a much better purpose in the second half.”

Villanova had just three second-half turnovers shot 55.2% from the field overall.

In the second half, Villanova held Butler’s two leading scorers, Michael Ajayi and Finley Bizjack, to a combined 12 points. Bizjack had 14 first-half points to power the Bulldogs’ early lead and finished with 18. Ajayi had 12 points, 12 rebounds, and five assists.

Redshirt sophomore guard Bryce Lindsay led Villanova in scoring with 18 points, shooting 7-for-13 (54%) from the field. Lindsay is averaging team-highs in points (16.8) and three-point percentage (44.8%) through 14 games.

Senior forward Duke Brennan continued his command of the paint, posting a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double. It marked Brennan’s fifth double-double of the season, and he is averaging 11.4 rebounds.

» READ MORE: Forged in Baltimore, Bryce Lindsay has overcome his share of adversity. Now he’s Villanova’s leading scorer.

Villanova has been a consistent three-point shooting team through Big East play, but on Saturday only shot 1-for-12 from deep in the first half. Despite that, the Wildcats found a way to dig out of their early hole.

After closing the first half on a 7-2 scoring run, Villanova stretched that momentum into the second half. Lindsay and redshirt freshman forward Matt Hodge knocked down three-pointers in a 17-3 Villanova scoring run to open the second half.

Three-point shooting accounted for 18 of Villanova’s 55 second-half points as it shot 6-for-9 in the period. A majority of those threes came from Lindsay and Hodge. Lindsay shot 3-for-5, and Hodge went a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc and finished with 17 points.

“We’re a good shooting team,” Willard said. “So we’re going to take a lot of threes. Bryce Lindsay is probably one of the best shooters in the country. He doesn’t get talked about a lot. [Hodge] can knock it down. Tyler Perkins [12 points on Saturday] is shooting over 40% [from three]. Then we come off the bench with Devin Askew. So, everyone we have out there, most times we have four guys out there that can shoot.”

It was the second straight game in which Villanova found late success with its three-point shooting after a poor first half. On Wednesday against DePaul, Villanova shot 7-for-10 from beyond the arc after going 3-for-13 in the first half.

Overall, Villanova is averaging 37.5% from beyond the arc this season.

» READ MORE: Tyler Perkins embraces his many roles at Villanova. This year, it’s about being a leader.

Acaden Lewis has come a long way since he was benched for much of Villanova’s season opener against BYU, and the 6-foot-2 freshman guard has displayed confidence as the team’s main ballhandler.

He totaled 12 points, six assists, and five rebounds on Saturday. Lewis is second to Lindsay in scoring, averaging 12 points, and can find unusual ways to finish at the basket.

However, his passing abilities have earned him four Big East Freshman of the Week nods only halfway through the season. He has dished out 68 assists, which is double that of any other player on the team and is averaging 4.8 assists, which ranks third in the Big East.

Villanova, which entered the game 25th in the NCAA’s NET rankings, now has its second Quad 1 road win of the season. The Wildcats will return home to face Creighton (9-5, 3-0) on Wednesday (7:30 p.m., Peacock).

The Bluejays, which entered Saturday 49th in the NET rankings, was hit with a slew of injuries early in the season but has won four straight. Villanova has lost three straight to Creighton but leads the all-time series, 19-11.