Marquette at Butler Preview

 

        Butler and Marquette round two is set for Wednesday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse at 6:30 pm. 

        In the first meeting that took place two weeks ago in Milwaukee, the Golden Eagles defeated the visiting Bulldogs 70-67. The Golden Eagles led by as many as 18 points in the second half before a late Butler rally fell short in the final seconds. The Bulldogs were led by Freshman Chuck Harris who scored 16 points off the bench for the Bulldogs. Senior Bo Hodges added 15 points during his first start in his Butler career. The Golden Eagles were led by sophomore DJ Carton who had a game high 18 points and 9 rebounds. Marquette shot a blistering 61.5 percent from the floor while Butler struggled on their end of the court, shooting 40.7 percent. The Golden Eagles outrebounded Butler 33-24. Marquette never trailed during the duration of the game. 

       Butler and Marquette square up next at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Wednesday evening. The Bulldogs are looking to get back in the win column after a disappointing loss to Georgetown last Saturday in Washington DC. The Golden Eagles are coming off a 57-51 loss at Seton Hall last Sunday and have lost three in a row, they have not won in two weeks when their last win came against Butler on February 2nd.  Butler won last season's meeting vs Marquette at Hinkle Fieldhouse 89-85 in overtime. Butler has won six out of seven overall games at home against Marquette since joining the Big East. This game is a feature of two teams who are in the bottom half of the Big East and have been struggling mightily this season. Butler comes into the contest with a record of 7-11 and 6-9 in conference play and has lost four of its past six games and currently sits in eighth place in the Big East. Marquette has lost six of their last seven games and are in tenth place in the conference with a record of 9-12 overall and a record of 5-10 in the Big East. 

    The key for Butler in this game will be the remedy that has plagued them all season and has been a reoccurring theme game after game. Get out to a fast start and don't fall behind early. Butler has struggled with this concept all season. Butler has gotten out to slow starts and has been behind from the get go almost every game. The Dawgs have fallen behind by double digits in 15 of their 18 games played this year. Last Saturday was probably the worst Butler has played all season against Georgetown. They fell behind at one point by 23 points, the largest deficit they have faced this year. Butler will really need Senior Jair Bolden to step up and have a good game. Bolden has struggled at Hinkle the last two games, scoring six points total and only going 2-12 from three point range. If Butler can get off to a fast start and get Bolden in rhythm then the Dawgs have a good chance at winning this game. Butler also needs to capitalize on opponents mistakes. Butler has struggled to convert turnovers into points. Against Georgetown last Saturday, Butler caused 23 turnovers and still lost by 15 points. Butler will need to change that narrative if they want to come out victorious on Wednesday.  

    For Marquette, the key will be to take Butler out of their game. Push the tempo early, set up a half court press to get the Bulldogs into an area where they are uncomfortable and force them into mistakes. Butler struggles once they have to play an up tempo game. In the first meeting, Marquette dominated inside the paint with Theo John, Kobe McEwen and DJ Carton doing the majority of the damage. Marquette shot 20-24 inside the paint against Butler two weeks ago. Marquette needs to look inside once to try to exploit the Bulldogs. Butler struggles against rebounding. Marquette controlled the glass the first time, outrebounding Butler 33-24. If Marquette can control the paint, it could open up three point shots on the outside for shooters like McEwen and Carton, who are both shooting better than 35 percent from beyond the arc. Marquette needs to play a faster pace than the Bulldogs to get them out of rhythm early. If they can do that they will take control of the game and can come away with a win. 

    Both teams are looking to get back in the win column and get out of stretches of losing streaks that have done significant damage to their seasons up to this point. Butler looks to get their home game win streak to three games while Marquette looks to get their first win in two weeks.