NFL Show
The California Golden Bears play host to the Butler Bulldogs on Saturday in an interesting non-conference showdown from Haas Pavilion. The Golden Bears come in as one of the only winless teams in college basketball this season, while they welcome a Butler team that has seemed to make a big jump since last year. These two haven't squared off recently, so it'll be exciting to see how they take on each other on Saturday evening. Cal would love nothing more than to grab their first win of the season, though there's no doubt that Butler won't make it easy for them.
Butler has won three games in a row as they hit the road in this one, though a trip all the way out to California is likely to be a challenge. Butler is only 1-3 away from home this season, as well as 0-1 in true road games, which is a challenge even if the Golden Bears have struggled themselves this season. Wins against Kansas State and BYU have turned some heads but they've continued to struggle against some of the bigger names on their schedule. Double-digit losses to Tennessee and NC State show the growth this team still has to work through, especially with Big East play right around the corner, but Cal should present a nice test for them on Saturday.
Butler has been able to put together an impressive start to the season even despite battling injuries for much of the last few weeks. Of their five double-figure scorers, they all remain healthy, but the bench is in serious disarray. Four players have already bee n ruled out for the weekend, while two others are questionable.
Quick trip West. #ButlerWay pic.twitter.com/5yfhOVv793
— Butler Basketball (@ButlerMBB) December 10, 2022
Despite the injuries this group has been dealing with, their offense has been strong all season long and will show no signs of slowing up against Cal in this one. Despite playing only five players for the bulk of the minutes, their efficiency ratings have continued to be strong this season. They rank 21st nationally in field goal percentage, which should continue to be a strength against Cal's struggling defense. The only issue could be generating second-chance opportunities, though with how well they score, it might not matter in this one. A trio of guards lead the way at over 14.0 ppg and even just a slight bit of help in the frontcourt could be instrumental for this group going forward.