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Gonzaga favored big over Butler Tuesday
BUTLER BULLDOGS (5-6)
at GONZAGA BULLDOGS (7-2)
Tip-off: Tuesday, 9:00 p.m. EDT
Line: Gonzaga -12.5, Total: 134
Butler continues its early-season gauntlet when it travels across the country to play Gonzaga Tuesday night.
Butler has already played three true road games as well as home games against two top-10 opponents. But while the Bulldogs’ record isn’t good, they play the kind of slow-tempo game to keep this close, especially because Gonzaga hasn’t overwhelmed teams at home. In five games in Spokane, the Zags have only won by double-digits once, and that was against a shorthanded (and bad even at full strength) Notre Dame team. Last week they beat an Oral Roberts squad (that’s similar to Butler) by only six points at home. BUTLER is the pick to keep the score under 10.
The FoxSheets have a three-star trend working in Butler’s favor:
Play On - A road team (BUTLER) - terrible shooting team (<=40%) against an average defensive team (42.5-45%). (172-93 over the last 5 seasons.) (64.9%, +69.7 units. Rating = 3*).
After a shaky start to the season, especially on the offensive end, Butler may have turned the corner with Saturday’s win over Purdue. The Bulldogs trailed by as many as 12 in the second half, but finished the game on a 12-1 run and won it 67-65 on Andrew Smith’s tip-in with one second left. They have shot the ball horribly all season, shooting 39% from the field and 29% from three. But they made 45% of their shots against the Boilermakers, including 7-for-16 from three. SG Chase Stigall came off the bench to shoot 3-for-6 from three, finishing with 11 points. Freshman SF Kameron Woods added 12 points, including two threes, off the bench. Smith also had one of his better games of the year, getting 12 points and six rebounds (four offensive) in just 22 minutes of action.
On the year, only Khyle Marshall (10.4 PPG) and Smith (10.1 PPG) average double-digit points for Butler. But the Bulldogs allow only 64.0 PPG, 42% shooting from the field and 31% from three.
Gonzaga is coming off a nice win over Arizona, 71-60 in Seattle. Junior F Elias Harris had one of the best games of his career, going for 25 points and eight rebounds. He and 7-foot, 260-pound C Robert Sacre (14.9 PPG, 7.2 RPG) should be too much for the Butler’s frontcourt to handle. One potential trouble spot is the recent shooting of freshman PG Kevin Pangos (13.1 PPG). After shooting 12-for-19 from three over the first three games of the season, he’s hit 7-of-31 (23%) since then, including 0-for-5 in the Arizona win.
BUTLER BULLDOGS (5-6)
at GONZAGA BULLDOGS (7-2)
Tip-off: Tuesday, 9:00 p.m. EDT
Line: Gonzaga -12.5, Total: 134
Butler continues its early-season gauntlet when it travels across the country to play Gonzaga Tuesday night.
Butler has already played three true road games as well as home games against two top-10 opponents. But while the Bulldogs’ record isn’t good, they play the kind of slow-tempo game to keep this close, especially because Gonzaga hasn’t overwhelmed teams at home. In five games in Spokane, the Zags have only won by double-digits once, and that was against a shorthanded (and bad even at full strength) Notre Dame team. Last week they beat an Oral Roberts squad (that’s similar to Butler) by only six points at home. BUTLER is the pick to keep the score under 10.
The FoxSheets have a three-star trend working in Butler’s favor:
Play On - A road team (BUTLER) - terrible shooting team (<=40%) against an average defensive team (42.5-45%). (172-93 over the last 5 seasons.) (64.9%, +69.7 units. Rating = 3*).
After a shaky start to the season, especially on the offensive end, Butler may have turned the corner with Saturday’s win over Purdue. The Bulldogs trailed by as many as 12 in the second half, but finished the game on a 12-1 run and won it 67-65 on Andrew Smith’s tip-in with one second left. They have shot the ball horribly all season, shooting 39% from the field and 29% from three. But they made 45% of their shots against the Boilermakers, including 7-for-16 from three. SG Chase Stigall came off the bench to shoot 3-for-6 from three, finishing with 11 points. Freshman SF Kameron Woods added 12 points, including two threes, off the bench. Smith also had one of his better games of the year, getting 12 points and six rebounds (four offensive) in just 22 minutes of action.
On the year, only Khyle Marshall (10.4 PPG) and Smith (10.1 PPG) average double-digit points for Butler. But the Bulldogs allow only 64.0 PPG, 42% shooting from the field and 31% from three.
Gonzaga is coming off a nice win over Arizona, 71-60 in Seattle. Junior F Elias Harris had one of the best games of his career, going for 25 points and eight rebounds. He and 7-foot, 260-pound C Robert Sacre (14.9 PPG, 7.2 RPG) should be too much for the Butler’s frontcourt to handle. One potential trouble spot is the recent shooting of freshman PG Kevin Pangos (13.1 PPG). After shooting 12-for-19 from three over the first three games of the season, he’s hit 7-of-31 (23%) since then, including 0-for-5 in the Arizona win.
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