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

Win the rebounding battle

To be honest, both of these teams struggle on the glass. Neither is incredibly big or all that physical. Because of that, predicting the team that will win the rebounding battle is a toss-up. With that being said, whoever comes away with that advantage will be in good position to win.

Statistically, Butler seems to be the team with the edge on paper. Unlike Arkansas, Butler is one of the better defensive rebounding team in the country. They allow offensive rebounds on just 24.7% of misses, which is much better than Arkansas surrendering offensive boards on 31.6% of those misses.

The key rebounders for each team are Tyler Wideman (Butler) and Daniel Gafford (Arkansas). Even though Wideman is not the leading rebounder for the Bulldogs, he is the best on the team when on the floor. The senior leader boasts an outstanding offensive rebound rate of 13.1%, which is the best of any player in this matchup. In addition, Wideman does an excellent job finishing when he snags rebounds.

Wideman finished 78.6% of his shots around the rim during the regular season. Considering these shots around the basket accounted for 78% of his total field goal attempts, his effectiveness in these situations is huge for Butler

As for Gafford, he is statistically the best defensive rebounder in this matchup given his 20.0% rebounding percentage after missed shots by the opposition. The 6’11” big man for the Razorbacks can be a beast on the boards. In addition, he is a big body in the paint that is hard to box out. He is able to use his big body to carve out space inside for others to sky in for rebounds that  Arkansas would otherwise not have. (Stats found via T-Rank.)