Redshirt sophomore forward Jamie Kaiser Jr logged 11 points and seven rebounds in the loss. Photo by Andrew Buckley.

SAWYER GOLDWEIN | MANAGING EDITOR | sgoldwein@butler.edu 

The undermanned men’s basketball team stumbled through its visit to Villanova, eventually succumbing to an 82-73 loss to the Wildcats.

The Bulldogs featured just eight healthy rotational players, only four of whom found their way into the scoring column in the first half. Graduate forward Michael Ajayi tallied 11 points and five rebounds before the break. 

Despite the large deficit, Butler battled back in the second half, cutting the gap to just one by locking down the perimeter and forcing Villanova to a 1-of-11 stretch from beyond the three-point arc. Offensively, the Dawgs chipped away behind steady play from first-year guard Efeosa Oliogu-Elabor and senior center Yohan Traore.

Villanova did not let its shooting struggles compound on themselves, though, immediately rattling off an 8-0 run in response. That was all she wrote, with the Bulldogs unable to make a successful final push, suffering a season sweep at the hands of head coach Kevin Willard’s Wildcats.

The play of Oliogu-Elabor was encouraging, with the rookie beginning to settle into the pace of college basketball, scoring double-digit points in two of Butler’s last three games. He finished with 10 points, two assists and just one turnover.

Elsewhere in the backcourt, junior Finley Bizjack had a rough night, mustering up 12 points of his own but also turning the ball over four times. Traore added 15 points and five boards.The loss drops Butler to 6-12 in the Big East, a potentially impactful result in a conference with a log-jam at the bottom of the standings. Entering Wednesday’s slate of games, just 1.5 games separated sixth and 11th place in the conference, and the Bulldogs will be in the thick of the chaos for the remainder of the season.