INDIANAPOLIS _ It was another sellout crowd on the road and a ranked opponent Wednesday night for No. 1 Villanova, and the Wildcats were on the ropes down the stretch against No. 18 Butler.
This time, however, they couldn't keep up with the Bulldogs, who shot 52 percent from the field in the second half and went 15 of 15 from the free-throw line for the game, posting a 66-58 upset before a sellout crowd at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
The Wildcats (14-1, 2-1 Big East) saw their 20-game winning streak snapped, a run that began in the NCAA Tournament. The 18th-ranked Bulldogs improved to 13-2 and 2-1 in the conference.
Villanova did not play nearly as well as it did in an 80-70 win Saturday at No. 10 Creighton. The Wildcats shot 31 percent from the floor in the second half and 37 percent for the game. Josh Hart shot 3 of 11 and scored 13 points, seven below his average. Jalen Brunson connected on 9 of 16 from the floor and led the Cats with 23.
The Bulldogs received a spark from reserve guard Kethan Savage, who scored 13 points, five of them coming in a 7-0 run that gave his team the lead for good at 58-52 with 1 minute, 46 seconds to play.
With the score tied at 47, the Wildcats went scoreless for more than three minutes before Hart, who had missed eight straight shots since making his first field-goal attempt of the night, converted a conventional three-point play.
Hart later sank a pull-up jumper in the lane to give the Wildcats a 52-51 lead with 3:18 to play. But that's when Savage turned it on.
Savage hit a driving layup to give Butler the lead and after a missed 3-point try by Mikal Bridges, Kelen Martin hit a leaner from side. Kris Jenkins then threw a crosscourt pass that was intercepted by Savage, who went in for a layup, was fouled and sank the free throw for a 58-52 lead with 1:46 to play.
Brunson sank both ends of a one-and-one for 'Nova and Kamar Baldwin missed on the next trip down for the Bulldogs, but Baldwin then stole the ball from Jenkins and hit a layup for a 60-54 lead with 55 seconds to play. The lead stayed at six, 62-56, with 33.1 seconds left after a Brunson layup and two free throws by Baldwin.
Brunson hit two more free throws at 20.7 seconds, but Tyler Lewis answered with Butler's last two free throws of the night, and that was it.
The Wildcats shot 45.5 percent from the field in the first half and got eight points apiece from Brunson, Jenkins, and Hart in taking a 31-27 lead. But the Bulldogs came out hot in the second half, connecting on four of their first six shots and taking their second lead of the night, 36-35, four minutes into the period.
Villanova came back to claim the advantage, leading by four points on two occasions _ the first time at 44-40 on a three by Donte DiVicenzo, and the next time at 46-42 on Brunson's reverse layup, this one coming with 9:03 to play.
But the Bulldogs got a 3-pointer from Avery Woodson and a left-hand scoop off an offensive rebound by Andrew Chrabascz and drew into another tie, 47-all, with 7:40 remaining.
The Bulldogs took their only lead of the first half with the help of a 9-0 run sparked by Savage, who scored six points in the rally including a pair of free throws after Jay Wright's technical foul call with 8:31 remaining. That gave Butler a 16-15 lead.
The Wildcats answered with seven straight points, including a 3-point basket and a nice move inside by Jenkins, to take back the lead at 22-16 with 4:53 to play. The Bulldogs came back and tied the game at 23 on Martin's 3-pointer with 3:17 remaining but Villanova went on to hit three of its last four shots _ all by Brunson _ to take a four-point halftime lead.
