That's where you'll find me, along with the lovers muggers and thieves - but they're cool people. "Dirty Water" - The Standells
Butler Bulldogs
67 – 85
FINAL Conference
Villanova Wildcats
Big East Conference · Hinkle Fieldhouse · January 3, 2026
Betting Lines
Spread BTLR -2.5 Away covered
O/U 149.5 Over
Money BTLR -148 / VILL +124
Model Predictions
Spread Total BTLR win
Actual VILL +18 152 Lost
Massey BTLR -4.0 (-22.0) — —
Massey Totals — 152.9 (-0.9) —
Bradley-Terry — — 30% ✓
Weighted B-T — — 13% ✓
Baseline Plus ML BTLR -2.2 (-20.2) 143.3 (+8.7) 63% ✗
Efficiency Plus ML ★ BTLR -2.7 (-20.7) 146.1 (+5.9) 62% ✗
Baseline Tuned ML BTLR -2.7 (-20.7) 142.8 (+9.2) 64% ✗
Baseline ML BTLR -2.8 (-20.8) 143.9 (+8.1) 66% ✗

Predictions use only rating snapshots dated before tip-off. Parenthesised values are the signed error vs. the actual result. Model performance →

Last 5 Meetings

Feb 26, 2026 VILL 82 – 73 BTLR
Mar 1, 2025 VILL 80 – 70 BTLR
Jan 1, 2025 VILL 73 – 65 BTLR
Feb 20, 2024 VILL 72 – 62 BTLR
Jan 27, 2024 BTLR 88 – 81 VILL

Team Comparison

Record & Ratings BTLR VILL
Overall 16-16 24-9
Conference 7-13 15-5
Home 10-7 14-3
Away 3-8 9-3
Neutral 3-1 1-3
Last 5 3-2 4-1
Streak L1 L2
Avg Pts For 79.4 77.1
Avg Pts Against 77.5 71.2
Massey 13.3 (#39) 13.2 (#40)
Bradley-Terry 1.97 (#52) 3.45 (#15)
W. Bradley-Terry 2.63 (#58) 5.23 (#14)
RPI 0.578 (#55) 0.646 (#17)
Shooting & Four Factors BTLR VILL
FG% 47.0% 45.7%
3PT% 35.4% 37.5%
REB / G 42.3 37.8
OREB / G 14.6 13.5
AST / TO 1.48 1.46
Four Factors — Offense
eFG% 53.4% 54.6%
TOV% 15.8% 16.0%
ORB% 39.1% 37.5%
FT Rate 29.2% 22.0%
Four Factors — Defense
Opp eFG% 48.3% 50.2%
Opp TOV% 16.3% 19.4%
DRB% 70.9% 69.2%
Opp FT Rate 16.1% 17.3%

Game Analysis

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