Butler Basketball: Keys for the Bulldogs to beat Arkansas in the first round

Defend the 3-point line

This has been an area of concern for Butler all season long. At the beginning of the year, Butler fans were hoping that this was just a by-product of facing excellent 3-point shooting teams. This problem was not fixed during the season, though. Despite having two excellent perimeter defenders in Baldwin and Thompson, the team has been unable to stop opponents from raining down trifectas.

In fact, on the season, the Bulldogs have allowed their opponents shoot 37.4% from deep. Considering the fact that Arkansas has 3-point shooters littered throughout their roster, this is a sign of danger for Butler. Specifically, Barford and Macon each shoot over 42.5% from three on the season while attempting plenty.

For Arkansas as a whole, the team shoots 40.0% from beyond the arc, a mark that ranks 18th in the country. While this rate is obviously extremely dangerous to a Butler team that has not stopped the three, let’s take a look at how Butler has played against somewhat comparable 3-point shooting teams.

During the regular season, Butler played three games against teams ranked in the top-5 nationally in 3-point percentage (Purdue, Marquette twice). They went 2-1 in those games while holding their opponents to percentages well below their season averages. The team is definitely accustomed to playing teams who shoot the ball well from three but they are also accustomed to giving up lots of made threes.