Big East basketball continues on Tuesday night with a matchup between the Butler Bulldogs (15-7, 6-5 Big East) and the #1 UConn Huskies (20-2, 10-1 Big East). Butler is coming off a strong win on the road over #13 Creighton, upsetting the Bluejays 99-98 as 10.5-point underdogs. UConn had an easier time on the road with St. John's, winning 77-64 and easily covering the 3.5-point spread. These teams met once this season already, with UConn winning by seven on the road. Tipoff is scheduled for 8:30 EST from the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut and can be found on FS1.
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The Butler Bulldogs are one of the hottest teams in the Big East, they have now won four straight games and are climbing their way back up the standings. They started out league play going 2-5, but now have jumped up to 6-5 and sit at 5th in the difficult conference. Their first three wins were against unranked teams, but they just had a convincing win in Creighton, defeating the 13th ranked Bluejays on the road. In that game, Butler was led by guard Jahmyl Telfort with 26 points in the win.
?????????????????? Jah ??@SmoothXJah went off last night with 26 points and 12/17 FG (70.6%) ?? #DawgsOnly pic.twitter.com/WE0QXsgILL
— Butler Basketball (@ButlerMBB) February 4, 2024
Telfort had the big game against Creighton, but the leading scorer on the season is 6'6 wing Pierre Brooks with 16.5 PPG in his junior season. Brooks is a strong guard weighing 240 pounds, but is also the top shooter with 59 made threes on 43.1% shooting from deep. Brooks has scored 13 or more in his past five games. Telfort is second in the team with 14.4 PPG as a 6'7 senior guard, he can also play a physical game and finish around the basket. Telfort had 26 last time out, and another 22 in the previous game against Villanova. DJ Davis is their third scorer, he is a 6'1 senior adding another 14.0 PPG. Butler is very guard heavy, their top four scorers are all perimeter players. They start 6'10 senior Jalen Thomas inside, he adds exactly 6.6 PPG and 6.6 RPG.
Butler is currently ranked 49th overall according to KenPom. They are 31st in offensive efficiency and 97th in defensive efficiency. The Bulldogs play at the 123rd f astest tempo in the nation. Butler is on the bubble, they are currently listed in the First Four Out section of Bracketology, just missing the Big Dance.
Injury Report: guard Posh Alexander is questionable with a foot injury, he is averaging 11.4 PPG.