The Marquette Golden Eagles will be at Hinkle Fieldhouse to face off against the Butler Bulldogs in a Big East matchup. The game gets underway at 2:30 pm ET on Saturday, Mar. 5 and can be seen on FOX and FSN.
The Bulldogs defeated Seton Hall 85-78 on Wednesday. Roosevelt Jones played a key role with 20 points, five rebounds, and five assists. The Golden Eagles, meanwhile, are coming off an 88-87 win against Georgetown on Tuesday. Luke Fischer shot 9 for 11 and led in scoring with 23 points.
This will be the second matchup of the season between these two teams. The Golden Eagles won the first game 75-69. Henry Ellenson put up 32 points and 10 rebounds.
The Bulldogs have gone 20-9 Straight Up (SU) and 15-13-1 Against The Spread (ATS). The Bulldogs come into the game with the 18th-ranked scoring offense in the nation, averaging 80.8 points per game. Butler has been steady from the free throw line, shooting a stellar .733. Few teams in the nation have a higher assist-to-turnover ratio than Butler, which ranks 31st at 1.43.
As for their opponent, the Golden Eagles head into the game with records of 12-17 ATS and 19-11 SU. Most recently, Marquette is 7-2-1 ATS over the last 10 games.
The Golden Eagles’ win over Butler in their last clash couldn’t give them the edge in the head-to-head record over their most recent meetings, where Butler still leads 4-3 SU. Furthermore, Butler leads the matchup ATS with a record of 4-2-1. When it comes to field goals, rebounds, and three-pointers, Butler held the edge in all three of these categories once in the last five meetings. Marquette never did so in those games.
Predictions: SU Winner – Butler, ATS Winner – Butler
Notes
“Butler is 7-1 ATS in its last 8 games “.
“Butler is 6-2 SU in its last 8 games “.
“The total has gone OVER in 5 of Butler’s last 6 games “.
“Butler is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games at home”.
Butler is one of the top-scoring teams in the nation, averaging 80.8 points per game (ranked 18th). Marquette, on the other hand, allows 72.3 points per game (ranked 159th).
In its last game, Marquette won by a margin of one point. Butler is 2-1 in games decided by a margin of three points or less. Marquette has a 4-3 record in close games.
The Butler Bulldogs have a defensive rating of 101.2 (ranked 95th), while the Marquette Golden Eagles have an offensive rating of 104.3 (ranked 207th).
Butler has an average field goal percentage of 46.6%. Marquette is a losing 2-5 when opponents have a similar or higher field goal percentage.
The Butler Bulldogs and the Marquette Golden Eagles both rank higher in average field goal percentage when compared to their effective field goal percentages. Butler is 77th and 51st in the nation for eFG% and FG% respectively, while Marquette ranks 97th and 45th in these categories.
Marquette ranks 27th in assists, recording 16.5 per game. Butler performs worse at 109th with 14.4 assists per game.
Marquette, the 62nd-ranked team in blocked shots, registers an average of 4.4 per game. Butler does worse, ranked 168th with 3.4.
On average, Butler makes 7.0 steals per game. Marquette has a solid 14-7 record when it gives up at least 6 steals.
