Roosevelt Jones scored 20 points and nearly spearheaded a come-from-behind win, but the Bulldogs fell, 60-55, to #11 Villanova Sunday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Villanova improves to 14-2 overall and 4-0 in BIG EAST play. Butler falls to 12-4 and 1-3 in conference with all three of its losses coming against teams ranked in the Top 12 at the time.

Butler took a 27-21 lead into the half and led 31-24 on a Kellen Dunham three-pointer just 87 seconds into the second half. That is when Villanova went on a 14-0 run to take a 38-31 lead with 13:27 remaining. On three occasions, Butler would trim the lead to a single point, but never re-took the lead.

Down 58-55 after two Jones free throws with 53 seconds to play, Tyler Wideman blocked a Wildcat shot which set up Butler's final attempt to tie as Jones found Jordan Gathers in the corner for a three-point attempt. It didn't fall and Villanova collected the rebound and hit two free throws to ice the game.

"Nova made enough plays tonight and played with a lot of poise," said Butler coach Chris Holtmann. "They took the lead early in the second half and we didn't respond like we needed to at that moment. But, we rallied and had a chance to tie, which I think is a testament to this team."

Jones scored Butler's final 10 points on the night, trimming a nine-point advantage with 3:23 to play to get the tying look.

Josh Hart led Villanova with 22 points and 11 rebounds. The visitors held a 39-31 edge on the glass, while neither team shot better than 42 percent.

Dunham added 13 for Butler, which also got 10 from Wideman.

The Bulldogs return to action Saturday with a noon tip against St. John's. The game can be seen on FS1.