Villanova Drops Butler 80-70 in Eric Dixon’s Swan Song

Villanova Men’s Basketball won their third game in a row on Saturday, March 1, knocking off Butler 80-70 in their home finale behind 34 points from star forward Eric Dixon.

While the Wildcats (18-12, 11-8 Big East) led by as much as 15 points in the first half, they never managed to land the knockout blow, allowing Butler to remain a threat until the final minutes.

Dixon, who remains in the national player of the year conversation, made 14 of 21 shots in his final game at the Finneran Pavilion. He also moved into third place on the Wildcats’ all-time scoring leaderboard, passing Keith Herron with a second half three-pointer, then went 4-for-4 in the last four minutes to put the Bulldogs away for good.

Villanova extended their lead to double digits on three separate occasions in the first half, including a Jhamir Brickus three that made it 41-26 with 3:07 to play, but each time Butler managed to rally, bookending the half with an 18-4 run that tied the game at 47.

Villanova responded with a torrent of threes, including a Jordan Longino triple that put them ahead 68-55 with less than eight minutes to play. Naturally, Butler immediately reeled off a 6-0 run, staying in the game and prompting a timeout from Villanova head coach Kyle Neptune. That prompted consecutive buckets from Dixon, including a dunk to give him 30 on the day and give the Wildcats some space.

Up next, Villanova will play in their regular season finale at Georgetown, set to begin at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, March 4.