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Butler Basketball: Keys to success against UC-Irvine in 2018-19

By Lukas Harkins

DETROIT, MI - MARCH 16: Aaron Thompson #2 of the Butler Bulldogs shoots the ball against the Arkansas Razorbacks during the first half of the game in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Little Caesars Arena on March 16, 2018 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
DETROIT, MI - MARCH 16: Aaron Thompson #2 of the Butler Bulldogs shoots the ball against the Arkansas Razorbacks during the first half of the game in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Little Caesars Arena on March 16, 2018 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
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CINCINNATI, OH – JANUARY 02: Jordan the head coach of the Butler Bulldogs gives instructions. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
CINCINNATI, OH – JANUARY 02: Jordan the head coach of the Butler Bulldogs gives instructions. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

Butler basketball has just one home non-conference game left on the schedule. What will it take the for the Dawgs to walk away with another victory?

Butler basketball returned to winning ways earlier this week in a home victory over Presbyterian. The win, though, was far from a pretty one as the team trailed for the majority of the game despite entering as the clear favorite. The Dawgs did rally down the stretch to the pull off the eight-point victory and hopefully this ignites a bit of a fire moving forward. With only a couple more non-conference games left on the schedule, Butler basketball looks to finish strong prior to the beginning of Big East play (speaking of…my updated Big East rankings drop soon).

Looking ahead, the Bulldogs’ last opponent before Christmas will be UC-Irvine. One of the best teams from the Big West, the Anteaters will enter this matchup fresh off of a well-fought road victory over Eastern Michigan on Dec. 19. This pushed their record on the season to 11-2 and their KenPom rating currently lands the team at No. 82 in the nation. Simply put, this will not be a pushover for the Butler Bulldogs.

With that said, Butler is one of the best teams in the nation when it comes to playing in front of the Hinkle Fieldhouse faithful. But with students home for Winter Break, the crowd will lack the “Dawg Pound” effect. This means that everyone in the arena will need to bring their “A” game in order to maintain Butler’s usual home-court advantage. If the crowd is engaged early, Butler should be able to come away with a rather underrated win for their future NCAA Tournament resume.

Now, with the matchup quickly approaching, what will be some keys to the game for the Butler Bulldogs against the UC-Irvine Anteaters? (All statistics used in this article were found via Sports-Reference and KenPom.)