National Basketball Association
Villanova 76, Butler 73
When: 7:30 PM ET, Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Where: Hinkle Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
Officials:
# Doug Shows, # Jeff Anderson, # Jim Burr
Attendance:
9318
By SportsDirect Inc.
No.14 Villanova 76, Butler 73 (OT): JayVaughn Pinkston scored 22 points and was dominate on the inside as the visiting Wildcats opened Big East Conference play with a victory over the Bulldogs.
Pinkston made 8-of-16 field goals and Darrun Hilliard scored 11 of his 15 points from the foul line for the Wildcats (12-1), who rebounded from a loss to former Big East rival and No. 2 Syracuse. Josh Hart supplied 10 points, James Bell had seven points and eight rebounds and Ryan Arcidiacono notched nine points and four steals.
Elijah Brown hit four 3-pointers and scored a career-high 19 points and Kellen Dunham scored 22 points, including 15 of the last 18 points for the Bulldogs (10-3), who lost in their first Big East game. Erik Fromm added nine points and Alex Barlow had a game-high nine rebounds and six points to go with five assists.
Villanova scored the first eight points of the second half to increase its cushion to 43-34 and maintained a lead until Brown hit a 3-pointer with 5:23 remaining to give Butler a short-lived 64-63 lead. Pinkston answered with a jumper and Hilliard tacked on a free throw for the Wildcats, who missed their chance to win it in the final seconds after Dunham tied it with a contested jumper with 22 seconds left in regulation.
Arcidiacono opened the extra session with a 3-pointer and Hilliard hit a pair of free throws a minute later before Dunham countered with a deep 3-pointer. Dunham then followed Hilliard's free throw with a layup and had another after two missed free throws by the Wildcats, who denied the Bulldogs a chance at a winning shot after two Pinkston free throws completed the scoring with three seconds left.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Butler made just 10 field goals in the first half, but half were 3-pointers. ... The teams combined to go 17-of-20 from the foul line in the first half and 36-of-46 for the game. ... The first half featured nine ties and 10 lead changes and ended with Villanova leading 35-34 after scoring 24 points in the paint.
Top Game Performances
Villanova |
|
Butler |
JayVaughn Pinkston 22 |
Scoring |
Kellen Dunham 22 |
Ryan Arcidiacono 3 |
Assists |
Alex Barlow 5 |
James Bell 8 |
Rebounds |
Alex Barlow 9 |
Darrun Hilliard 11 |
Free Throws Made |
Elijah Brown 7 |
Ryan Arcidiacono 4 |
Steals |
Alex Barlow 3 |
JayVaughn Pinkston 3 |
Blocks |
Erik Fromm 2 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Villanova
|
76 |
50.0 |
5-16 |
19-27 |
13 |
27 |
7 |
10 |
16 |
Butler
|
73 |
39.7 |
10-28 |
17-19 |
14 |
32 |
2 |
6 |
15 |