When it comes to playing in the Big East, winning streaks can mean very little.

Villanova coach Jay Wright can attest to that now.

The Wildcats looked to be playing some of their best basketball of the season this week, coming into Friday's contest at West Virginia with a six-game winning streak, which included impressive victories over Pittsburgh, Syracuse and most recently Marquette, who put up little fight Tuesday night at The Pavilion in what quickly turned into a rout for Villanova.

But Da'Sean Butler didn't care how well Wright's team had been playing of late.

The junior out of Newark, N.J., after all, didn't even know if he was going to play against the 'Cats after coming down wrong on his ankle during a rebounding drill in practice Thursday.

"I came very close to not playing," he confessed. "It was pretty bad when (the injury) happened ... I really couldn't walk and I had to have someone help me get out of bed so I could come to the Coliseum."

With the help of West Virginia's training staff though, Butler managed to suit up for Friday's game, arriving at the team's facility and finding his ankle feeling well enough to drop 43 points on No. 13 Villanova in a 93-72 rout.

"We got in foul trouble early and then defensively we just didn't have an answer for Da'Sean Butler," Wright explained afterward. "He was great and when we got down and we were trying to come back, we left him open a lot. He was just a great player tonight."

This from a guy who four days earlier scored a meager four points - on 2-of-12 shooting from the field - at No. 4 Pittsburgh, where the Mountaineers fell, 70-59, and Butler fouled out in only 18 minutes of action.

So if his injured ankle had anything to do with Friday's career-high performance, Butler might want to think about playing hurt more often.

Of course, in West Virginia coach Bob Huggins' mind, it was only a matter of time before his 6-foot-7 forward would catch fire this season.

"I have been waiting for (a big game from Butler), honestly," Huggins remarked. "He does it in practice. He does a great job of reading screens and our guys are getting better at getting him the ball."

The Mountaineers certainly got Butler the ball - twice as much as they did against Pitt, in fact, feeding him for a 12-for-23 shooting performance from the field and a 6-for-13 clip from beyond the arc.

Corey Fisher, meanwhile, remained the one bright spot for Villanova (20-5 overall, 8-4 Big East), scoring a team-high 17 points to go along with three rebounds and two assists. Corey Stokes also chipped in with 15 points and five boards despite the Wildcats losing the battle on the glass by a 37-31 margin and turning it over on 17 occasions.

"We got some easy baskets against their pressure," Huggins added. "I thought we did a real good job in handling their pressure."

There's more pressure ahead for both teams really, though.

West Virginia (17-8, 6-6), rutted in the thick of the Big East standings mess, now must welcome in a Notre Dame team that just mopped up on No. 5 Louisville Thursday at home to snap a seven-game losing streak and is in desperate need of a quick, late-season turnaround to keep its NCAA tourney hopes alive.

If that means anything to Huggins and his players, they'll make sure to keep the ball in Butler's hands as much as possible next Wednesday when the Fighting Irish come to Morgantown.

Villanova, on the other hand, must regroup for next week's home-and-away slate, starting with Rutgers Thursday and then Sunday's showdown with No. 23 Syracuse at the Carrier Dome.

And if the Scarlet Knights and Orange can shut down Dante Cunningham much like West Virginia did Friday night, holding the senior to seven points, six rebounds and four turnovers, the Wildcats will be quickly replacing a winning streak with a losing streak that may only prove costly in just a month when it's time for Selection Sunday.

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