Top-ranked Villanova used hot shooting in the second half to fend off an upset bid from visiting Butler, 77-67, Saturday afternoon at The Pavilion in Philadelphia. Kelan Martin led the Bulldogs with 19 points. Villanova improves to 24-3 overall and 13-1 in BIG EAST play with the win.

An Andrew Chrabascz basket gave Butler a 45-43 lead with 11 minutes remaining. Villanova responded with a 16-6 run that gave the home team a 59-51 advantage four minutes later. At one point in the second half, Villanova made eight of 10 shots to take a double-digit lead.

Butler (18-9, 7-8 BIG EAST) came out of the locker room strong, overcoming a 34-25 halftime deficit to take the lead at 37-36 on a Martin three-pointer. After the teams traded baskets for several minutes, Villanova went on the decisive run.

"We did a lot of good things today," said Butler coach Chris Holtmann. "In the second half, we just needed to make a few more plays and string together a few more stops. Unfortunately, we didn't do that. But, we have some things that we can build off of for a tough Saturday test (against Georgetown)."

Josh Hart had 22 for the Wildcats, which also got 20 from Kris Jenkins. Villanova shot 46 percent for the game and made 19 of 21 free throw attempts.

Roosevelt Jones added 16 for Butler. Kellen Dunham was the third Bulldog in double figures with 13. Butler only committed seven turnovers on the afternoon, but could not overcome 39-percent shooting from the field.

Butler out-rebounded Villanova, 37-35. It was only the second loss of the season when the Bulldogs had the rebounding edge (15-2). Dunham had eight rebounds, one off his career high. Chrabascz added seven.

The Bulldogs have the week off from competition before traveling to the nation's capital for a Saturday (Feb. 27) contest with Georgetown. The game against the Hoyas is set for Noon and will be televised nationally on CBS.