No. 8 Villanova must deal with the sturdy defense of Butler on Sunday at Hinkle Fieldhouse
The Bulldogs are last in the Big East in scoring and field-goal percentage. But they play defense well and are tough at home, two areas that have Jay Wright's attention.
Villanova’s next opponent is stuck in eighth place in the Big East standings and ranks last in the conference in points and shooting from the field and from the free-throw line.
But Butler is coming off a game in which it allowed just 52 points in a victory over NCAA Tournament hopeful Seton Hall, and you know that caught Jay Wright’s attention.
“They have always had a great defensive philosophy. I think they’re as locked to playing against personnel as anybody you play against,” Wright said Saturday before boarding a bus to the airport for Sunday’s game against the Bulldogs at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
“They’ve given us trouble because of that. Watching that [Seton Hall] game, I think they did the same thing. They have a really sound defensive philosophy. They don’t press. It’s not overextended. They’re very solid in the scoring area and they play your personnel and they’re locked into your individual tendencies really well.”
The eighth-ranked Wildcats (15-3 10-2 Big East) enter the game on a run of four wins in their last five games. In their last two contests, both victories, they held Connecticut and St. John’s to an average of 59 points, plus combined 36.3% shooting, 20% from beyond the arc, and 17 steals.
The defense has been a positive for Villanova as it heads into the final week of the regular season and prepares for what lies ahead in the postseason.
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“We do it every day in practice,” sophomore guard Justin Moore said. “We’re just trying to play hard, and defending is one of the main things we focus on. The offense is going to take care of itself but we all try to focus on defense. That’s something that I’ve really dedicated myself toward and gotten better each and every day.”
Wright said there isn’t much to take away from the Cats’ last meeting against the Bulldogs (8-13, 7-11), an 85-66 December win at Finneran Pavilion which was the visitors’ first game in 21 days because of a coronavirus pause. Point guard Aaron Thompson was injured in that game and he is questionable for Sunday’s contest.
The Bulldogs offense has been struggling with and without Thompson, averaging just 62.7 points per game and shooting only 40.7% from the floor. But the team is 7-4 overall and 6-3 in the Big East at home, and Wright knows it will be a difficult test.
“Their style of play is difficult to play against, especially at Hinkle Fieldhouse,” he said. “They shoot it really well there, play with great confidence there, and we know the history of a lot of very, very tough games, close games out there. We expect the same thing.”
Parents on Senior Night?
Wright said Villanova officials are working on the possibility that parents of players could attend Wednesday’s Senior Night’s game against Creighton.
“I don’t think negotiating is a fair word but we’re lobbying, let’s say, and working to try to get it worked out,” he said.
“I don’t think the number of fans will be as important as if we could get parents in there. That would be nice. That’s what we’re lobbying for. Mark Jackson, our athletic director, is very supportive of that. There’s a lot of other layers of confirmation you have to get and support all the way up to the board of health, so we are working on that.”
No fans have been allowed inside the Finn this season. The Wildcats will be playing their third game in front of spectators Sunday, with about 2,000 expected to attend. They’ve seen about 2,500 fans in the stands both at Texas and at Creighton.
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