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Villanova ready to grind it out against Butler

Most college basketball teams would feel satisfied with the kind of game Villanova played Saturday, shooting 67.3 percent from the field to turn what was expected to be a dogfight against Seton Hall into a game in which the Wildcats cruised.

Most college basketball teams would feel satisfied with the kind of game Villanova played Saturday, shooting 67.3 percent from the field to turn what was expected to be a dogfight against Seton Hall into a game in which the Wildcats cruised.

But the second-ranked Wildcats (26-2, 13-2 Big East) aren't any team. Even though they rank sixth in the nation in making shots, connecting at a 49.8 percent clip, they don't expect to shoot lights-out every time they take the court. It's almost as though they'd rather be grinding out victories.

"We live for the games where we don't make shots and still win," senior Kris Jenkins said Tuesday after the Cats finished up preparations for their game Wednesday night against No. 22 Butler at the Pavilion, where a win will clinch their fourth straight regular-season conference championship.

"When we have a game like we did the other night, it's good to have those games every once in a while. But we like the grind-it-out games. That's what we pride ourselves on."

Jenkins had his best shooting game of the season in the 92-70 win over Seton Hall, knocking down 8 of 10 shots overall and 5 of 6 from behind the three-point line on his way to 22 points. Sophomore point guard Jalen Brunson made all seven of his shots and totaled 22 points and 10 assists.

But with Butler next, the Wildcats' mentality is more in grind-it-out mode. The Bulldogs (21-6, 10-5), who hold second place in the Big East, performed that task better in the last three minutes of their first meeting against Villanova, winning by 66-58 on Jan. 4 and handing the Cats their first loss of the season.

"Yeah, we got out-Villanova'd," recalled Josh Hart, the Wildcats' national player of the year candidate.

"They were better with their habits in the Butler way than we were with Villanova basketball. As long as we acknowledge that, we give them credit, and we know that we've got to get a lot better. You can lose a game, but we got out-toughed those last five, six, seven minutes. That's something that we know will be big" Wednesday.

The Wildcats could be without one of their tougher players once again. Senior forward Darryl Reynolds, who has missed the last three games with a rib injury, will be a game-time decision, coach Jay Wright said.

In shooting its season best at Seton Hall, Villanova shot 50 percent or better for the 15th time this season and Wright joked, "I hope it's contagious." But he knows how good Butler is defensively, and the Bulldogs held his team to a season-low 37.3 percent shooting last month at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

"We weren't making shots," he said. "We were grinding, and we've had some games like that there because they're a great defensive team. But at the end, we didn't grind it out and they did.

"When you make shots like we did [Saturday], everything looks good. But when you don't, you've still got to find a way to do the little things. That's what Butler did a better job of than us the last time."

jjuliano@phillynews.com

@joejulesinq