Butler at Georgetown: 2017 college basketball preview, TV, prediction
To open Big East play for the new season, the Butler Bulldogs will be traveling to the nation’s capital to take on the Georgetown Hoyas. Who will come out on top?
Matchup: Butler Bulldogs (10-3) at Georgetown Hoyas (10-1)
Tip-time: 6:30 p.m. ET on Dec. 27
TV Schedule: Fox Sports 1
Location: Capital One Arena in Washington, DC
Welcome to conference play. After a month and a half of teams across conferences battling things out, the beginning of the Big East schedule is upon us. On Dec. 27, six of the ten Big East teams will be in action in the first three games of the conference season. The first of these three games will feature one of the country’s more consistent programs in the Butler Bulldogs and one of the most storied programs in the Georgetown Hoyas.
Each of these teams has gotten off to a solid start to this season under new head coaches and have their eyes set on potentially reaching the NCAA Tournament at the end of the year. With that being said, every game is important in Big East play and that includes this one.
Where Butler stands after non-conference play
Butler’s non-conference resume puts them relatively squarely on the bubble. In the first season under LaVall Jordan, the Bulldogs went 10-3 in the first portion of the season and hold quality victories over other NCAA Tournament hopefuls in Ohio State (neutral site) and Utah (at home). In addition, they are set to suffer a bad loss, as each of Purdue, Texas, and Maryland will be either in the Big Dance or on the fence come March.
Butler Bulldogs Basketball
The Dawgs are led by their seniors Kelan Martin and Tyler Wideman. Martin is one of the best wing scorers in the conference and has really stepped up his game this season in the absence of Andrew Chrabascz, who graduated after last year. Through the first 13 games of this season, Martin is averaging career-highs in points at 17.9 per game and rebounds at 7.2 per game. With the highest usage rate on the team, it is clear that the team runs through him.
Wideman, on the other hand, is more of the unsung hero of this team. He does not stand out on the court as one of the premier players but he is the glue that holds this team together. Wideman is also putting up a career-high in scoring at 10.0 points per game and he is doing so on a ridiculous 68.6% shooting from the field.
Aside from these two frontcourt players, it is important to mention Butler’s Kamar Baldwin and Paul Jorgensen in the backcourt. Entering the season, Baldwin was looked at as one of the best sophomores in the nation and though he has struggled to start the year, it is expected that he will turn things around. For the year, Baldwin is shooting just 41.0% from the field and 28.8% from three. These numbers are both down from last year when he was 49.5% from the field and 37.2% from three, but he has increased his scoring average to 12.9 per game while remaining a premier perimeter defender.
While Baldwin has struggled, though, Jorgensen has been a revelation to Bulldog fans. Not only has the George Washington brought immense energy to the floor for Coach Jordan, but he has been a double-digit scorer that has proven to be able to finish at all three levels. He is currently hitting on 48.2% of his shots, including 43.9% from deep, and has been receptive to either starting or coming off the bench.
Where Georgetown stands after non-conference play
Georgetown has more work to do to reach the Big Dance than Butler. Although they have a better record to date, they have the worst strength of schedule in the nation. In fact, the Hoyas lost their only game to a team ranked in the upper-half of the nation. Just like Butler, Georgetown is being led by a new head coach in former NBA great Patrick Ewing.
Entering the year, the Hoyas were expected to be a bottom-feeder in the Big East and, despite being 10-1, the team has not proven themselves to be any more than that to this point in the year. The Hoyas’ weak non-conference strength of schedule has been the talk of the town more than their actual play on the court.
Still, if the Hoyas play well in the Big East schedule and finish with an above-.500 record, which seems unlikely, then they should be given heavy consideration for the NCAA Tournament. If Georgetown is to achieve this, though, they will need to start off on the right foot with a home victory over a difficult Butler team.
For the season, the Hoyas are led by junior Jessie Govan. In a pronounced role this season, Govan has been tremendous inside for Coach Ewing. He is putting up remarkable numbers of 19.0 points and 12.1 rebounds per game while finishing on 58.5% of his field-goal attempts. Easily the most impressive performance of the year for Govan so far was chalking up 21 points and eight rebounds in a loss to Syracuse. Can he keep up that success against Wideman of Butler?
The other double-digit scorers for the Hoyas are also juniors in Marcus Derrickson (13.4 points, 7.1 rebounds) and Kaleb Johnson (11.5 points, 5.1 rebounds). Both of these players are solid 3-point shooters and they will need to connect on a bunch of their deep shots in this game if Georgetown is to come out on top.
Overall, Georgetown has a lot of question marks entering conference play and a few could be answered in this opening game. Many have ignored the Hoyas success in the early going this season because of their awful schedule but a win against Butler would certainly turn some heads.
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In the end, though, I think Butler has the advantage both in talent and experience heading into this game. The Bulldogs have tested themselves against difficult opponents this season and will be ready to notch their first true road victory of the year (two neutral-court wins). The matchup to watch will be Govan vs. Wideman inside but it might not mean much if Georgetown lets Butler’s Martin, Jorgensen, or Baldwin to go off for a big scoring night.
Prediction: Butler 84, Georgetown 77