INDIANAPOLIS _ Villanova visited its third hostile Big East arena of the season Tuesday night and put on another strong defensive performance with a liberal dose of 3-point baskets sprinkled in.
Eric Paschall knocked down five 3-point baskets and scored 23 points to lead five players in double figures and give the 18th-ranked Wildcats their seventh straight victory, 80-72, over Butler before a packed house at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
Paschall, who scored 14 points in the first half, was joined by Phil Booth with 17 points, Collin Gillespie with 11, and Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree and Saddiq Bey with 10 each as the Wildcats (15-4, 6-0) remained the only undefeated team in conference play.
Villanova also did an effective job limiting guard Kamar Baldwin, who came into the game as the leading scorer of the Bulldogs (12-8, 3-4) with a 17.7-point average. Baldwin shot 5 of 14 from the field and 1 of 5 on 3s and scored just 11 points.
Aaron Thompson led Butler with 15 points.
The Wildcats led 41-37 at the half but the Bulldogs came out strong in the second half and went ahead 44-43, their first lead since midway in the opening period. Villanova answered with four consecutive 3-point baskets in a 12-0 run, with three buckets coming from Gillespie, the last one giving the Cats a 55-44 advantage at 55-44 with just over 14 minutes remaining. They finished the game with 12 3-pointers made.
Butler used the long ball, 3s by Sean McDermott and Thompson, to trim the deficit to 59-54. After the two teams traded baskets, the Wildcats forced three straight turnovers and scored off all three of them, including a 25-foot 3-ball by Paschall that gave them a 68-56 lead with 6:25 to play.
The Bulldogs tried to nip away at the lead and got to within seven points twice, the last at 70-63 with 3:18 left to play. But Joe Cremo had a layup off a steal and Cosby-Roundtree hit four straight free throws to give 'Nova a 76-63 lead with 1:19 left and Villanova rode it out with free-throw shooting.
Both teams were sharp offensively in the first half. The Wildcats shot 56 percent and went 7 of 14 on 3-pointers in taking a 41-37 lead. The Bulldogs hit on 53.6 percent of their field-goal attempts and hit six 3s in 13 tries. The teams combined for three turnovers, two by the Cats.
Paschall (14 points) and Booth (13) carried the brunt of the scoring load for Villanova, with Booth also dishing out four assists. Baldwin led the Bulldogs with seven.
The lead changed hands seven times in the opening eight minutes. But the Wildcats took the advantage when Paschall drained a pair of 3-pointers and a layup in a 2:06 span for a 26-23 lead with 8:53 remaining in the period.
After a Butler basket, Villanova ran off the next seven points, including two free throws and a layup from Booth, and took its largest lead, 33-25, with 5:37 to play. McDermott and Bey then exchanged 3-point baskets to keep the 'Nova margin at eight.
The Wildcats had just two field goals in the final 4{ minutes, including Booth's only 3-pointer of the half, and went to the locker room up by four.
