A miserable day of three-point shooting hurts Villanova in a 73-61 defeat at Butler

The three-point shot has been a staple of the Villanova program since Jay Wright took over 20 years ago. Whenever they needed a big basket, the Wildcats usually were able to knock down a shot or two from beyond the arc.

But the Cats came out Sunday at Hinkle Fieldhouse and couldn’t locate the hoop, shooting more air balls (three) than three-point makes (two). Their 2-of-27 performance foiled any chance they had of making up a deficit that got as high as 15 points, and Butler romped to a 73-61 upset in Indianapolis.

The eighth-ranked Wildcats (15-4, 10-3 Big East) lost a conference game on the road by more than 10 points for the third time. They had trouble getting quality shots against the sticky defense of the Bulldogs (9-13, 8-11) and made enough mistakes on defense to trail for the final 24 ½ minutes of the game.

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One concern that surfaced in their defeat against St. John’s on Feb. 3 became apparent again Sunday, that the Wildcats struggle with physical defenses.

“I think their guards did a great job defensively,” Wright said. “Teams that get up in us and are physical, that’s bothering us. They were really in us, very physical, and it affected us.

“They just played us 1-on-1. They just said, ‘Go ahead, try to beat us 1-on-1 and we’re not going to help.’ None of us were really aggressive enough or physical enough to beat them 1-on-1 or force help. I give their physicalness a lot of credit.”

The Wildcats got to the rim enough on drives to amass 44 points in the paint but their three-point problems were glaring considering they entered the game hitting 37.7% from deep (31st in NCAA Division I) and sinking 9.9 threes per game (17th).

Villanova’s 7.4% accuracy was the lowest since their streak of NCAA Tournament appearances began in the 2012-13 season. The only other time they shot in single digits was a 1-of-11 (9.1%) performance against Penn on Dec. 28, 2015.

“Their guys were doing a good job of staying on their line, staying with their man and making us shoot tough twos and contested threes,” said Collin Gillespie, who had one of Nova’s two threes. “They did a really good job on the defensive end just pressuring the ball and staying with guys off the ball, showing help and making sure they got back.”

Defensively, the Wildcats didn’t get out early on Butler freshman Chuck Harris, who scored 15 of his 20 points in the first half with three three-pointers. After a 9-0 run trimmed a 14-point deficit to five, 42-37, on Justin Moore’s layup with 14:14 left in the second half, they were burned by the Bulldogs’ law firm of Bolden and Golden.

Jair Bolden knocked down a three-pointer to spark a 12-2 run that included three baskets from Bryce Golden, giving Butler its largest lead at 54-39 with 10:40 to play. The Wildcats managed to stay in range thanks to poor free-throw shooting (9 of 20) by the Bulldogs, getting to within eight at 62-54 on a layup by Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, who led the visitors with 16 points and 16 rebounds.

But Harris and Bolden drilled back-to-back threes to stretch the margin to 14 with 2:40 left, and that was it. Butler shot 50% overall with 10 three-point baskets.

“It’s just the consistency defensively,” Wright said. “We put some good possessions together, got it back to five, got it back to seven, and then broke down. … We’re just not there yet defensively where we can do the things we want to do. We’ve just got to keep working on it, keep trying to get better.”

Only one week remains in the regular season, with Wednesday’s rematch against Creighton on Senior Night at Finneran Pavilion looming. The Bluejays, who have played five more conference games, would move into first place in the Big East with a win.

» READ MORE: No. 8 Villanova must deal with the sturdy defense of Butler on Sunday at Hinkle Fieldhouse

For Wright, it’s a matter of finding some answers, and not just on three-point shooting woes.

“I think that when you’re a really good team,” he said, “you find ways on those nights, find other ways to get to the foul line, get some offensive rebounds, play good defense, and we just haven’t gotten there yet as a team. I think we can.”