INDIANAPOLIS – Butler has finally won a Big East basketball home opener.
The 13th-ranked Bulldogs shot 62 percent, using balanced scoring to beat Providence 78-61 Sunday and extend their home winning streak to 11.
Butler (12-2, 1-1) next will play No. 1 Villanova, which comes to Hinkle Fieldhouse on Wednesday featuring a 20-game winning streak.
It was the Bulldogs’ first game since a scary flight Thursday from New York. Their charter plane lost cabin pressure, made a fast descent and landed in Pittsburgh instead of Indianapolis.
Butler had lost each of its three previous Big East home openers, twice to Providence.