Butler vs DePaul Preview

 

     Butler travels up I-65 to DePaul on Tuesday night to face the Blue Demons. 

      The Dawgs and Blue Demons have had their share of games missed this season due to covid outbreaks in both programs. Butler comes into this game having played 11 games with a record of four wins and seven losses. DePaul is playing just their sixth game of the season and has a record of two wins and four losses. Both teams are looking for their first win streaks of the season. Butler is coming off a comeback win in overtime against Creighton while DePaul is coming off a victory of their own on Saturday when they defeated Valparaiso. Butler is currently sitting in eighth place in the Big East while DePaul is currently in last place and looking for their first win in Big East play. Butler is going to attempt to avenge last season's loss at DePaul when the Blue Demons made 10 out of 17 three pointers and defeated the then number five ranked Bulldogs 79-66. Butler has won six of the seven meetings at DePaul since joining the Big East in 2013-14 including six in a row prior to last season's defeat. 

    Butler and DePaul are polar opposites when it comes to their tempo on the floor. Butler plays a slow, methodical style that likes to take time off the clock during their possessions. DePaul on the other hand plays a much quicker and upbeat style that gets up and down the floor at a much more rapid rate than the Bulldogs. Look for DePaul to quicken the pace against Butler on the offensive side of the ball and defensively try to force the Dawgs into turnovers by using full court press and double teaming in the post on Butler's two big men, senior Bryce Nze and junior Bryce Golden.  DePaul is very keen at turning over the ball during games. DePaul plays at such a fast and frantic pace that it has been a detriment to them this season. DePaul leads the Big East in turnovers per game with 18.3 which in turn has resulted in allowing the most points per game as well in the Big East at 78.3. Butler's slow pace during the season has resulted in scoring the least amount of points per game in the Big East at 63.6. 

    Butler is led by Senior guard Aaron Thompson who leads the Bulldogs in scoring at 14.3 points per game and leads the team in assists as well with 4.3 per game. DePaul is led by their senior guard Charlie Moore who is averaging 13.2 pointer per game and averages 4.8 assists per game. DePaul Sophomore forward Romeo Weems is shooting an astounding 54.5 percent from three point range this season which leads the Big East. DePaul ranks second in the Big East as a team in three point percentage. Butler is led in three point shooting by senior graduate transfer Jair Bolden who is shooting 42.1 percent from behind the arc. 

    This will be a good contest of teams who are still trying to find their way out of the bottom half of the conference. Butler is coming off an emotional and hard fought comeback against Creighton and is looking for their first road victory of the season. DePaul is looking for their first conference win of the season. Butler will need to come out strong especially in the first half as it did against Creighton and look to avoid falling into a double digit deficit on the road which it has done in every conference game this season. If Butler comes into this game and falls behind early, it could spell trouble and the Blue Demons could be right there for the opportunity to take advantage of the Bulldogs and continue their road woes and DePaul could end up changing their winless conference record.