Butler Bulldogs (13-10, 4-8 Big East) at Marquette Golden Eagles (8-15, 3-9 Big East)
Milwaukee; Saturday, 2 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Butler plays Marquette after Finley Bizjack scored 30 points in Butler’s 97-87 overtime loss to the Providence Friars.
The Golden Eagles are 8-5 in home games. Marquette is 3-2 in games decided by less than 4 points.
The Bulldogs have gone 4-8 against Big East opponents. Butler ranks third in the Big East with 10.7 offensive rebounds per game led by Michael Ajayi averaging 3.3.
Marquette’s average of 8.0 made 3-pointers per game this season is only 0.7 more made shots on average than the 7.3 per game Butler allows. Butler has shot at a 46.1% clip from the field this season, 0.4 percentage points higher than the 45.7% shooting opponents of Marquette have averaged.
The matchup Saturday is the first meeting this season for the two teams in conference play.
TOP PERFORMERS: Nigel James Jr. is shooting 42.1% from beyond the arc with 1.4 made 3-pointers per game for the Golden Eagles, while averaging 15.4 points, 4.6 assists and 1.8 steals. Royce Parham is shooting 52.8% and averaging 14.5 points over the last 10 games.
Bizjack averages 2.4 made 3-pointers per game for the Bulldogs, scoring 17.7 points while shooting 35.0% from beyond the arc. Ajayi is shooting 44.5% and averaging 15.6 points over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Golden Eagles: 3-7, averaging 74.3 points, 27.9 rebounds, 15.7 assists, 9.5 steals and 3.4 blocks per game while shooting 45.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 78.7 points per game.
Bulldogs: 3-7, averaging 76.9 points, 28.9 rebounds, 14.1 assists, 6.3 steals and 2.1 blocks per game while shooting 44.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 83.5 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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