Marquette vs Butler prediction, college basketball game preview, how to watch: Saturday, February 12
Marquette vs Butler How To Watch
Date: Saturday, February 12
Game Time: 4:30 ET
Venue: Hinkle Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
How To Watch: FS1
Record: Marquette (16-8), Butler (11-13)
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Marquette vs Butler Game Preview
Why Marquette Will Win
More on this in a moment, but the Butler defense has been terrific at times lately and it’s still losing.
The games have been close, but the Bulldogs’ inability to do much on the boards and lack of scoring punch are a problem.
The free throws are falling lately, but that’s a tad bit of an aberration – for the year they don’t get to the line enough and don’t usually make them when they get there.
Marquette moves the ball around well, finds the open man without a problem, and it’s good enough defensively to come up with a whole lot of stops – the 80 points scored by UConn in its win a few days ago isn’t the norm.
However …
Why Butler Will Win
It’s this simple for Marquette. When it hits its threes, it wins. When it doesn’t, it doesn’t.
The Golden Eagles are 10-0 when they make 38% or more from the outside, and they’re 6-8 when they don’t. Now they have to go against a Butler team that might have a whole slew of issues, but it’s terrific at stopping teams at hitting from three.
No one has made more than 24% from three in any of the last five games – Creighton made just 2-of-22 several days ago – and only four teams were able to get to the 38% mark.
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What’s Going To Happen
Butler has been really, really, really close finding something positive.
It might have lost three straight, but that was by a grand total of nine points. Marquette doesn’t have a problem on the road, and it’s more than fine dealing with low scoring tight games, and it’s going to have to deal with that again.
If Marquette gets hot from three for a stretch, forget it. It’ll win in a walk. It’ll take a few late free throws and key shots, though, to get out alive.
Marquette vs Butler Prediction, Lines
Marquette 66, Butler 62
Line: Marquette -3.5, o/u: 131.5
ATS Confidence out of 5: 2
Must See Rating: 2.5
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