Butler basketball is coming off of a solid home win over Providence. Can they snag another with Creighton coming to town? Here are three keys to the game.
After Villanova and Xavier, Big East basketball has an interesting race for third place. Creighton, Butler, Providence, and Seton Hall are all still alive for that position. With just a few games left for each team, every game matters. And that is what brings us to this upcoming battle. On Feb. 20, Butler basketball will play host to the Creighton Bluejays in a huge game for the standings.
Butler is coming off of a big home win over Providence. While the victory does not jump off of the page, it ended a three-game losing streak by the Bulldogs. This recent victory was a slow, hard-fought, and grind-it-out win for Butler. Despite somewhat off shooting nights from Kelan Martin and Kamar Baldwin, the team played stifling defense to get the win. In fact, the Bulldogs held the Friars to just 19 second-half points.
On the other hand, Creighton is coming off of a tough home loss. The Bluejays are typically one of the best home teams in the country but they could not seal the deal against Marquette. Even though the Golden Eagles had to play much of the game without Markus Howard, they effectively used a 2-3 zone to fluster the Bluejays. This was a difficult loss to take given that Creighton led by double-digits in the first half. Yet, they have a big opportunity to recover in this next game against Butler.
In the last meeting between these two teams, Creighton came out on top in Omaha, 85-74. Butler consistently had no answer for Creighton in that game. It was another off night from Martin and Baldwin but this time it came back to haunt them. Even though Marcus Foster and Khyri Thomas were great as always for the Bluejays, it was Martin Krampelj who led the team in that game. He scored 14 points (5-for-5 FG) and snagged 14 rebounds. This time, though, Krampelj will not be available as he is out for the season with an ACL tear.
With all of this being said, what are some keys to this game for Butler basketball to beat Creighton?