Butler deals No. 2 Villanova first loss in on-campus home game in over four years

The last decade of Butler basketball has featured a lot of giant slaying, a lot of record breaking, and a lot of expectation defying. The Bulldogs did all three of those things Wednesday night at Villanova.

Butler, which came in as a 10-point underdog, knocked off the second-ranked Wildcats for the second time this season, this time with a 74-66 win in the Philadelphia suburbs. In doing so, the Bulldogs became the first team to beat Villanova at The Pavilion in over four years.

After a sluggish first half that saw Butler take an early lead, Villanova opened the second half like the top-five team that it is. The Wildcats led by seven with 10 minutes remaining in the game.

[Tourney Pick’em is open! Sign up now | Bracket Big Board]

But the Bulldogs roared back with a combination of defense and timely shooting. They held Villanova without a point for six-and-a-half minutes. They forced multiple turnovers, multiple missed 2s and multiple missed 3s.

On the other end, Kelan Martin and Tyler Lewis both drilled long-range bombs. Lewis’ triple tied up the game with just over eight minutes to play, but Butler’s run wasn’t complete — in fact, it wasn’t even halfway done. Minutes later, another Martin 3 capped an 18-0 run that put the underdogs up 60-49.

Villanova tried to mount a comeback late, and created some necessary chaos. The Wildcats forced a few turnovers, and had the ball, down six, with a couple minutes remaining. But the home team couldn’t hit enough clutch shots to really put pressure on Butler.

If this story sounds familiar, that’s because to some extent it is — in two different senses.

In one, it’s a story similar to the one that played out at Hinkle Fieldhouse in January. Butler upset the then-No. 1 Wildcats and dealt them their first loss of the season. In another, the second-half Butler run evoked Villanova’s other previous loss this season, when it went cold over the final 10 minutes and blew a double-digit lead at Marquette.

But one thing that isn’t familiar: A loss for Villanova at home. The Wildcats play some games at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, but play most of their home games at The Pavilion, a cozy on-campus gym that seats fewer than 7,000. Their last loss at The Pavilion was Feb. 3, 2013, 55-52 to Providence.

This group of Villanova seniors had never lost in their home gym. Thanks to Butler, now they have.

More on Yahoo Sports:
• Teammate trolls All-Star Kyrie Irving’s flat-Earth belief
• Ex-NFL star fired over wife’s Instagram pic
• Tom Brady posts ‘suspect board’ in jersey heist case
• Danica Patrick opens up about concussion battles