VILLANOVA, Pa., – With its position in next week's BIG EAST Tournament presented by Jeep settled, Villanova headed to Indianapolis Friday with one more bit of regular season business to tend to: a clash with Butler at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse.
 
Saturday's matinee gets underway shortly after noon. It will air on the Fox broadcast network (Fox 29 in Philadelphia) with Brandon Gaudin and Stephen Bardo on hand to describe the action. Ryan Fannon and Whitey Rigsby will have the call on the Villanova IHeart Radio network (Sirius channel 138 XM channel 201).
 
Ten of the 11 BIG EAST teams will be in action Saturday with the Wildcats' battle with the Bulldogs (13-17 overall, 6-13 BIG EAST) to kick matters off at noon. By virtue of its 76-74 victory over BIG EAST regular season champion Providence on Tuesday, Villanova secured the No. 2 seed in next week's BIG EAST Tournament, which begins Wednesday with opening round games at Madison Square Garden.
 
The Wildcats will meet the winner of the 7/10 game on Wednesday. With its win over Xavier earlier in the week, St. John's clinched the No. 7 seed. DePaul or Butler will be the 10^th seed depending on the results of Saturday's game.
 
All of that will be on hold for the Wildcats however, until Sunday. In the meantime, No. 11 Villanova (22-7 overall, 15-4 BIG EAST) aims to continue building momentum against the Bulldogs, a team it defeated 82-42 on Jan. 16 at Wels Fargo Center. However, Hinkle Fieldhouse has been one of Villanova's most challenging road venues since the reconfiguration of the BIG EAST in 2013-14: the 'Cats are 4-4 there when facing Butler (0-1 in the 2021 NCAA Tournament). The four losses are tied with Creighton's Century Link Center for the most of any road BIG EAST facility in that span.
 
"Butler was dealing with a lot of injuries when we saw them the first time," noted Villanova head coach Jay Wright. "We made shots that day. We know this will be a very different game. They have always been a tough matchup for us, especially at Hinkle."
 
This will also serve as Butler's "Senior Day" with ceremonies planned for after the final horn has sounded.
 
One of the catalysts to Villanova's two-point win on Tuesday night was senior guard Caleb Daniels, who has come off the bench this season (save for Feb. 5 against Connecticut when he stepped in for the injured Justin Moore). The native of New Orleans dropped in a season-high 20 points, including eight straight points in the second half and a series of clutch free throws in the final minute, to help the Wildcats hold off the No. 9 ranked Friars.
 
"Caleb's a starter for us," noted Wright. "He plays starter's minutes. We've got great confidence in him. He's a really confident offensive player and he's an underrated defensive player for us. (On Tuesday) we had Jermaine Samuels in foul trouble and he was guarding forwards and battling them. He was keeping them off the glass."
 
Added Daniels: "That was just being confident and stepping up for my teammates. Guys had been making plays the whole game and those were the moments when I had to step up and make those plays. That's making a free throw, getting a shot, getting a rebound, getting a stop. No matter what, I had to step up for my brothers and that was the only thing on my mind."
 
The complete BIG EAST bracket will be released late Saturday evening after the final regular season games are played.