Villanova Men's Basketball
Villanova Preview: Home Finale Against Butler
Villanova Men’s Basketball will play their home finale at 12 p.m. on Saturday, March 1 when they host the Butler Bulldogs at the Finneran Pavilion.
The Wildcats (17-12, 10-8 Big East) enter the matchup needing to win out in order to feel remotely confident about securing an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament: at minimum, they’ll need to win at least two games in the Big East Tournament — where they’re currently in line to play in the first round as the No. 6 seed — in order to secure their spot.
Next on the table is a 13-15 Bulldogs team that Villanova beat on the road with a furious second half comeback exactly two months ago. ESPN Analytics gives the Wildcats a 74.6 percent chance of picking up the home win, while ESPN Bet lists them as a -6.5 favorite on the point spread and -275 on the money line, with an over/under set at 144.5.
Standing on the edge of the tournament bubble, Villanova occupies the No. 51 spot in the NET rankings and the No. 55 slot in the KenPom ratings; Butler checks in at No. 77 and No. 70, respectively. A Quadrant 2 matchup that could easily drop down to Quad 3 if the Bulldogs lose, the Wildcats need a dominant win in order to boost their tournament résumé.
Where to Watch; Who to Watch
FOX holds the broadcasting rights for this matchup.
Senior forward Jahmyl Telfort, who put up 25 points against Villanova last time around, leads Butler in points (16.0), assists (3.5) and steals (1.0) per game. 7-foot-1 center Andre Screen cleans up in rebounds (6.0) and blocks (1.5).
Other Bulldogs averaging more than ten points per game include forwards Pierre Brooks II (15.6) and Patrick McCaffery (11.1).
Villanova forward Eric Dixon, meanwhile, leads both his team and the nation with 23.2 points per game. Shooting guard Wooga Poplar leads in rebounds (6.8) and steals (1.4), while Jhamir Brickus posts 5.0 assists per game and big man Enoch Boakye logs 0.7 blocks in often limited minutes. Poplar (14.5) and Jordan Longino (11.5) both average double digit points, while Brickus (9.7) narrowly misses the cut.
