In his last four games, sophomore Finley Bizjack averaged 14.5 points per game. Photo by Darcy Leber.
SARAH HOHMAN | MANAGING EDITOR | shohman@butler.edu
Butler travels to Xavier on Feb. 18 with a three-game winning streak on the line. The Dawgs have collected wins over Seton Hall, Providence and Georgetown to go on their longest winning streak since December.
On top of the win streak, the Bulldogs are coming off of their highest-scoring game on the season where senior guard Pierre Brooks scored a career-high 30 points.
Here’s what you need to know as the Bulldogs look to improve their record to .500:
Who: Butler vs. Xavier
When: Feb. 18, 8:00 p.m.
Where: Cintas Center
How to watch: Peacock
Roughing it on the road
Butler has struggled to find any sort of consistency away from Hinkle Fieldhouse as the Dawgs are 1-6 on the road this season — their one win being against an injured Seton Hall.
Many of the road losses were obtainable, including a heartbreaking 80-78 overtime loss to an at-the-time-ranked UConn. Butler’s offensive efficiency does not differ much from home versus away. The main issue at hand is closing games.
All season, the Dawgs have shown they can jump out of the gate strong, but fail to keep it up and let teams crawl their way back. Careless turnovers that allow opponents to have fastbreaks have been a major issue. Butler showed they could lock down Georgetown when they tried to come back in the game, but can they do the same against the Musketeers?
Fans better hope that the “Hinkle magic” can travel east to Cincinnati where Xavier is 12-2 on their home court.
Scouting report
This is the first time the Musketeers and Bulldogs will face off this season. This is going to be a tough atmosphere for the Dawgs to enter, not only because of the historical rivalry, but Xavier is also 12-2 on their home floor.
The Musketeers are led by Big East Basketball Player of the Week Zach Freemantle. The graduate forward averages 17 points per game this season along with 7.2 rebounds. Junior guard and Indianapolis native Ryan Conwell follows close behind, averaging 15.5 points this season.
Butler’s defense has the opportunity to prove why it is number one in the Big East in defending the three. Xavier shoots 38.6 percent from three-point range, which puts them 12th nationally in the category.
The Musketeers may be the favorite to win this one, but anything can happen in a rivalry game.
