Butler @ Xavier preview
Cintas Center
Last Meeting ( Mar 9, 2017 ) Xavier 62, Butler 57
Less than a week into Big East Conference play, there only are three undefeated teams in the league. Two of them clash Tuesday night in Cincinnati as No. 5 Xavier hosts Butler.
The Musketeers enter the contest with the top-five national ranking and a nine-game win streak, but it’s the Bulldogs who are garnering the pre-game hype and headlines following their 101-93 win Saturday over previously undefeated and top-ranked Villanova. The Wildcats were allowing only 65.8 points and 6.6 3-pointers per game entering the contest, but host Butler caught fire early and never let up, scoring 101 points on the strength of a 15-of-22 performance from 3-point range. Forward Kelan Martin scored a team-high 24 points and guard Paul Jorgensen added a career-high 23 as the Bulldogs shot 60 percent from the field and became the first team to top 100 points against the Wildcats since Creighton on Feb. 16, 2014. “Villanova is a team I grew up watching in (Madison Square) Garden,” said New York-native Jorgensen in a post-game news conference. “So to take them down at Hinkle (Fieldhouse) is really amazing. But like Coach (LaVall Jordan) said, we don’t want this to be the highlight of our season.”
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS1
ABOUT BUTLER (12-3, 2-0 Big East): With Saturday’s win, the Bulldogs improved to 3-5 all-time against No. 1-ranked teams, but the schedule offers no break as they’re in the midst of four straight vs. top-25 foes with contests against No. 24 Seton Hall and No. 23 Creighton following the game against Xavier. The 6-foot-7 Martin is averaging a team-leading 18.9 points and 7.1 rebounds and has scored at least 20 in each of his last four outings. Guard Kamar Baldwin (14.5 points), Jorgensen (12.3) and forward Tyler Wideman (10.1) also are averaging double figures for the Bulldogs, who are still ranked seventh in the 10-team conference in scoring (80.1 points) despite putting up at least 85 in each contest of their current four-game win streak.
ABOUT XAVIER (14-1, 2-0): The Musketeers, meanwhile, haven’t lost since a 102-86 defeat against current No. 4-ranked Arizona State on Thanksgiving weekend in Las Vegas but needed to overcome a 16-point second-half deficit Saturday against visiting DePaul to win 77-72 and keep their current roll intact. Guards J.P. Macura and Trevon Blueitt scored 19 and 16 points, respectively, to pace Xavier in the game and are the only two Musketeers averaging double digits on the season with Blueitt leading the way with 19.7 points and Macura scoring 12.9. With 5.7 rebounds per game, 6-foot-9 forward Tyrique Jones leads four players averaging at least 4.2 boards on a team which owns the Big East’s second-best average rebound margin at plus-8.0.
TIP-INS
1. Xavier has won seven of the 10 matchups since the teams joined the Big East together in 2013, including a 62-57 victory in the Big East Tournament last March.
2. The Musketeers are a Big East-best 10-0 at home this season while Butler is 1-1 in true road games.
3. Blueitt, a senior, didn’t start Saturday for the first time since his freshman season as punishment for showing up late to a team shoot-around and struggled through a 4-of-13 shooting performance in 31 minutes en route to his 16 points.
PREDICTION: Xavier 79, Butler 72