Butler Basketball: Keys to success in bubble battle with St. John’s

3. Use depth effectively.

It is no secret that Butler is one of the deepest teams in the Big East. With an abundance of potential contributing players on the roster, the coaching staff seems to often have a hard time coming up with a consistent rotation. Yet, this is definitely more of a luxury than a curse and that has been the case throughout conference play. Butler’s starting five might not be the best in the Big East but head coach LaVall Jordan can seemingly always count on someone emerging as a big-time performer from his group of reserves.

Through the first 11 conference games of this season, Butler’s reserves are outscoring those of their opponents by an average of 16.3 points per game. Additionally, they have not been outscored by an opposing bench in conference play yet, so that trend will likely not be broken anytime soon. With regards to who the most important bench players will be in this matchup, Butler will likely turn to its only two seniors, Paul Jorgensen and Nate Fowler, for strong contributions. These two have picked up their games as of late as they clearly do not want to end their careers by missing the NCAA Tournament.

I have already touched on the importance of Paulie in the lineup but Nate Fowler, a 6-foot-10 big man, brings a versatile game that not many teams can match up with. Fowler might receive his fair share of criticisms from his own fanbase but he is a solid shooter for his size and does not an excellent job positioning himself defensively. To put it simply, Butler is a much better team when he is on the floor.

In order for Butler to win this one on the road, the team will likely heavily rely on their bench for not only big minutes but major scoring contributions. They have delivered to this point in the year so it is reasonable to expect that they can do the same in this one.

Due to the nature of the bubble right now, this is a big opportunity for both of these teams. The winner of this one will likely walk away feeling pretty good about their placement in most projected fields. The loser, on the other hand, should put an extra layer of deodorant on heading into the rest of the season firmly on the cutline.

In the end, though, I do not think Butler will be able to pull off the season sweep of St. John’s. The Red Storm will be just as hungry as a victory as the Dawgs and they will also have the backing of their home crowd.

Final Prediction: St. John’s Red Storm – 79, Butler Bulldogs – 73.