er ... The Wildcats have only started 13-0 one other time in

Villanova, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - With stingy defense and a balanced attack, the No. 6 Villanova Wildcats opened Big East play with a 67-55 win over the Butler Bulldogs. Ryan Arcidiacono led Villanova (13-0, 1-0 Big East) with 15 points and five assists. JayVaughn Pinkston netted 13 points and Daniel Ochefu chipped in 10 points, nine rebounds and five blocked shots. The Wildcats limited the Bulldogs to 35.5 percent shooting, including just 5- of-21 inside the arc in the second half. Butler (10-4, 0-1) was paced by Andrew Chrabasczs and Alex Barlows 12 points each. Kellen Dunham netted 10 points, but Roosevelt Jones was limited to eight on 4-of-15 shooting. Trailing just 36-32 at the break, Butler let the game get away from them in the opening minutes of the second half. Darrun Hilliard scored seven straight points coming out of the break to extend the Wildcats advantage to 11 points. Jones hit a layup to end the Hilliard run, but Butler made only two more shots from the floor over the next 7 1/2 minutes as Villanova extended its lead to as much as 16 in the second half. With Butlers poor shooting, the Wildcats could have run away for the game if not for their own struggles from the free throw line. They only shot 13-of-22 at the charity stripe in the second half and 61.5 percent for the game. Villanova only hit two 3-pointers in the second half, but the second one by Kris Jenkins with 13 1/2 minutes remaining ran the Wildcats lead to double digits where it would remain for the rest of the game. Butler never led, but the Bulldogs hung in the game by dominating the offensive glass with a 17-3 advantage. They converted those extra rebounds into 11 second-chance points. The Bulldogs opened the game shooting just 1-of-10 from the floor, but back- to-back triples from Barlow and Austin Etherington helped them tie the game at eight just over six minutes into the contest. Game Notes Villanova improved to 4-0 against Butler ... The Wildcats have only started 13-0 one other time in team history (1937-38) ... Hilliard missed Villanovas last game with a concussion ... The Bulldogs owned an 11-4 advantage in fastbreak points ... Both teams play next on Jan. 3 with Villanova traveling to Seton Hall and Butler visiting St. Johns. Salomon Clearance Uk . - Regan Smith had the checkered flag in sight at Daytona a year ago and a freight train of cars in his rearview mirror. Salomon Shoes Uk .J. - Pete Carroll is in support of the NFL looking further into whether medicinal marijuana could beneficial for players. http://www.cheapsalomonuk.com/. - All-Pro quarterback Aaron Rodgers looked spry enough in pregame warmups Sunday for Green Bays divisional playoff game against Dallas. Salomon Sale Uk . -- Gary Harris gave No. Cheap Salomon Online . Toronto announced the deal with the restricted free agent on Saturday. The terms were not disclosed.PHOENIX -- After a laugher over the New York Knicks, the Phoenix Suns are on their longest winning streak in four years. Goran Dragic scored 32 points in 32 minutes and the Suns routed the Knicks 112-88 on Friday night for their season-high sixth victory in a row. Eric Bledsoe added 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists, Markieff Morris scored 16 and Miles Plumlee had 11 points and 12 rebounds for the Suns, who led by 22 at halftime and 32 in the third quarter. Carmelo Anthony scored 21, seven below his season average, and Amare Stoudemire 19 for the Knicks, blown out for the second time in three games on their five-game western trip. "They didnt play good defence," Dragic said of the Knicks, "so tonight we could get everything that we want. We swing the ball two and three times, Im sure we get an open guy." With Memphis loss at Golden State, Phoenix pulled a half-game ahead of the Grizzlies for the No. 7 playoff spot in the West. The Suns are a game ahead of Dallas. The Knicks fell two games behind Atlanta for the eighth spot in the East. After winning eight of nine, Phoenix is just 1 1/2 games behind No. 6 Golden State and 2 1/2 behind No. 5 Portland. "In the West, its so crazy," Dragic said. "The first nine teams, they all deserve to be in the playoffs. But its only eight teams that can get in. We just have to take care of our business. I think if we play like tonight, were going to be in good shape." Suns coach Jeff Hornacek said that unless his team finishes 7-2 "or something like that," its unlikely Phoenix can catch the Warriors or Trail Blazers. "But they (the players) do look at the standings," Hornacek said. "They see that its bunched up there and lets see what we can do." Dragic, who scored 18 in the first quarter, returned to start the second half after getting five stitches to repair a cut just above the left eye, the result of a second-quarter collision with Tyson Chandlers massive armm.dddddddddddd "I tried to poke the ball from him and he turned and hit me with his elbow right in the eye," Dragic said. "I dont know what it is. Its always the left eye." He said hes had stitches above the eye five times in his career, twice this season, and always on the left side. Phoenixs streak is its longest since the Suns won 10 straight four years ago. The smaller Suns dominated the boards 56-37 and had a 46-24 advantage in points in the paint. "We just werent ready for them," Anthony said. "We werent prepared for them, and they ran us out of the gym." It wasnt quite as bad for the Knicks as their 127-96 embarrassment against the Lakers in Los Angeles on Tuesday night, but it wasnt close after the first 1 1/2 quarters. The Suns, a season-high 15 games above .500, outscored the Knicks 24-6 over the final 8:49 of the half to lead 62-40 at the break. "We are playing for something and it is disappointing because we just cant afford to give games away," New York coach Mike Woodson said. Dragic had 20 at the half on 8-for-10 shooting, including 3-of-4 on 3s. Phoenix shot 52 per cent in the first half to New Yorks 39 per cent. The Suns were 8-of-20 on first-half 3s, the Knicks 4-of-13. The smaller Suns even outrebounded New York in the first two quarters 26-17. Anthony, the No. 2 scorer in the NBA at 28.2 points per game, had 10 in the first half on 4-of-10 shooting. Things got worse for New York early in the third quarter. Dragic made two 3s and Bledsoe one to put the Suns up 78-47 and Plumlees reverse jam on an alley-oop pass from Bledsoe made it 82-50 with 6:40 left in the period, Phoenixs biggest lead against anyone this season. NOTES: Tim Boven, an engineer at Honeywell from suburban Peoria, won $77,777 by sinking a shot from halfcourt during a second-quarter timeout. ... Stoudemire played in Phoenix for only the second time since leaving the Suns following the 2010 season. ... Phoenix is 20-10 against Eastern Conference foes. ' ' '