It’s an opening round matchup of the Battle 4 Atlantis when a member of the Big East takes on the SEC on the college hardwood down on an island paradise. The Butler Bulldogs are the “road” team as they take on the #22 Tennessee Volunteers Wednesday night. Butler cruised to an easy 89-42 home victory over The Citadel in their most recent contest Saturday. Tennessee has been off since rolling over FGCU 81-50 at home last Wednesday in their previous contest. In the all-time series, Butler owns a 3-2 advantage, including a 94-86 home victory in the most recent matchup on December 12, 2015.
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Butler won their second straight game as they took care of business with relative ease against The Citadel Saturday in their last game. The Bulldogs improved to 3-1 on the season but they have their work cut out for them here against a ranked opponent in the opening round. Against The Citadel, Butler scored the game’s first 17 points and cruised from that point. The Bulldogs were up 53-22 at the half and led by as many as 49 in the second half en route to the victory. Butler shot a hot 55% from the floor, including a sizzling 17 of 31 from three-point range, and limited The Citadel to just 30.8% shooting in the game. Jayden Taylor and Simas Lukosius (nine rebounds) each had 18 points to lead Butler in the victory.
The Bulldogs put up an average of 83.8 points per game on the season, which puts them 42nd in the nation in scoring offense. Butler pulls down 35.3 rebounds per contest a nd dish out 17.8 assists per contest. The Bulldogs are 35th in scoring defense as they allow 57.5 points per game this season. Chuck Harris is leading the team with 15.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists a contest. Jayden Taylor (14.8 points, five boards), Simas Lukosius (14.3 points, five boards, 3.8 assists), Manny Bates (13.8 points, 8.5 boards) and Eric Hunter Jr. (12.5 points, four assists) are off to good starts. Pierce Thomas, Myles Tate, D.J. Hughes and Connor Turnbull all are looked at to contribute. Butler shoots 53.1% from the field as a team on the season, which is eighth in the country. The Bulldogs knock down an average of 8.5 triples a night while hitting 36.6% from beyond the arc. Butler is mediocre at the charity stripe as they sink 70.7% of their chances this season.