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Butler vs. Princeton: 2017 college basketball game preview, TV schedule

By Lukas Harkins

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - NOVEMBER 10: Baldwin (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - NOVEMBER 10: Baldwin (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /
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Princeton basketball went undefeated in Ivy League play last season. Will they be able to come into Hinkle Fieldhouse and challenge Butler basketball?

Tip Time: Nov. 12 at 6:00 p.m. ET

TV Schedule: CBS Sports Network

Arena: Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, IN

After carefully taking care of business against Kennesaw State on Nov. 10, the Butler Bulldogs will face off against the defending Ivy League champions in the Princeton Tigers in their second game of the season. Last season, the Tigers were extremely successful. Not only did they go undefeated in Ivy League play at 14-0 and make the NCAA Tournament, but they gave No. 5 seed Notre Dame everything they could handle in the first round before falling 60-58.

This season is not expected to be quite as successful as last, but there is still plenty of returning talent to contend in the Ivy League. Playing on the road against Butler is a very tough opening game of the season, but this team has a fair amount of experience returning that could make things tough on the Bulldogs.

Steven Cook and Spencer Weisz are the two biggest losses in the offseason, but the team does return two double-digit scorers per game in Devin Cannady and Myles Stephens. The expectation is that Cannady and Stephens will be the leaders of this team throughout the season and will be the players to watch in this game against the Bulldogs.

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    • While shooting 37.8%, Princeton was one of the better 3-point shooting teams in the nation (66th overall) last season and that will continue due to the return of sharpshooting Cannady. While he wasn’t the best shooter on last year’s team by percentage, Cannady attempted and made the most threes for the Tigers. For the year, he shot 81-for-198 (40.9%) from deep, a very respectable mark.

    In terms of defending the 3-point line, Butler was in the top-100 nationwide last season while holding their opponents to just 33.3% from deep. The team did struggle to stop Kennesaw State from three on Nov. 10, when the team shot 9-for-18 from deep, but hopefully the team can turn things around in that regard. With solid individual defenders on the perimeter in Kamar Baldwin, Aaron Thompson, and Kelan Martin, the team should be able to shut down the 3-point shooting of the Tigers.

    As far as individual match-ups go for this one, the biggest one will be Kamar Baldwin against Devin Cannady. Cannady is one of the top offensive options for Princeton and Baldwin is one of the premier defenders in the nation. If Baldwin is able to stop Cannady from scoring and also get his own buckets, then Butler will be in great shape to take this victory at home.

    In addition, this game will be a contrast of styles. In Butler’s opening game against Kennesaw State, it was obvious that the Bulldogs wanted to push the pace and get out in transition. For Princeton, though, they are known as a team that likes to slow the game down and lengthen possessions. This slow pace of play was a major contributor to the fact that the Tigers had the ninth-best scoring defense in the country last season while allowing a measly 61.4 points per game.

    Still, Butler has the versatile scorers and shooters to beat Princeton at its own game or run out in transition and take control of the game using pace. At either speed, you can expect that Butler’s Kelan Martin will be the best player in the floor on Nov. 12. He is the type of scorer who can both run in transition and finish as well as get his own bucket in the half-court. Martin is already off to a solid start to the season thanks to his 20-point, 9-rebound game in the season opener.

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    Overall, this will be a tough early test for the Butler Bulldogs in just their second game of the season. Princeton is a very solid team and a contender to win the vastly-improved Ivy League this season. Yet, it will not be easy to open their season on the road against a top program from the Big East like Butler. While the Tigers will probably hang around for the majority of this game, I expect the Dawgs to pull away in the last 10 minutes for a double-digit victory.

    Final prediction: Butler 72, Princeton 60