Butler Bulldogs vs Villanova Wildcats Box Score on Mar 02, 2019

Senior guard Phil Booth scored 28 points to lead host Villanova past Butler 75-54 on Saturday in a Big East game in Philadelphia.

Booth made 10 of 15 shots from the field, including 4 of 7 from 3-point range. He came one point short of his career high, set earlier this season against Kansas.

Eric Paschall added 12 points for Villanova, Saddiq Bey contributed 11 and Jermaine Samuels had seven points and 11 rebounds.

The Wildcats (22-8, 13-4 Big East) won their second in a row following a season-worst three-game losing streak.

Paul Jorgensen scored 11 points, Kamar Baldwin added 10 and Aaron Thompson had eight for Butler.

The Bulldogs (15-14, 6-10) have lost three in a row. They shot just 37.7 percent from the field, including 5 of 26 from beyond the 3-point arc (19.2 percent).

Villanova missed nine of its first 11 shots and fell behind 12-5 in the first eight minutes. The Wildcats rallied to take a 33-30 lead at halftime.

Trailing 39-32, Thompson made a difficult, twisting layup to get Butler within five points with 17:42 remaining. But the Wildcats scored the next seven points to pull ahead 46-34. Bey's layup gave them a 12-point advantage with 14:21 left.

Butler missed several long jumpers and Booth responded with a 3-pointer for a 49-34 lead. Paschall later pushed the run to 12-0 with a thunderous dunk for a 51-34 advantage.

The Bulldogs didn't wilt as Joey Brunk scored off an offensive rebound and Baldwin knocked down a 3-pointer to close within 51-41 with 10:38 remaining. Jorgensen then broke free for a backdoor layup to cap a 9-0 spurt that closed the gap to 51-43.

Leading 53-44, Booth made a tough runner in the lane and followed on the next possession with 1 of 2 free throws for a 56-44 advantage with 7:59 left.

The Villanova lead swelled to 19 before Jorgensen drained a deep trey to get within 65-49 with 4:51 remaining. But the Wildcats had little trouble closing out the win.

--Field Level Media