NCAA Basketball Power Rankings: Seton Hall soars, Auburn drops

Butler was yet another highly-ranked team that struggled during this past week. In fact, the Dawgs dropped both of their games to fall to 15-3 (3-2 BE) on the season while putting forth its two worst defensive performances of the season. This was quite jarring considering how well the Dawgs had defended through the first 16 games of the season. The biggest issue, though, has been the uncharacteristically high rate of turnovers as of late.  In the grand scheme of things, losses to Seton Hall (home) and DePaul (away) are not all that bad and therefore Butler stays at the edge of my Top 10.

Still, Butler is in a tough spot. The Dawgs have now dropped two games in a row and their schedule does not get any easier with a road matchup against Villanova coming next. Winning that game would be huge for their confidence and Big East regular-season title hopes. Coming away with that victory, though, is far easier said than done, especially considering how the team performed during the past week.

While there were certainly several negative takeaways from this week for Butler, there was also one huge positive: Jordan Tucker is emerging as a star. He has been an excellent sixth man since the opening tip of this season in several facets of the game and is now gaining consistency as a scorer. The junior wing has averaged 12.4 points (13-for-24) from three) and 5.8 rebounds per game over Butler’s five Big East contests and he could be the key in pushing the team back into the national title conversation.

The Dawgs’ defense and turnover rates, though, will need to return to being elite in order for that to occur.