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Big East Basketball Power Rankings: Seton Hall, Villanova leap ahead

By Lukas Harkins

NEWARK, NJ - JANUARY 22: Alpha Diallo #11 of the Providence Friars battles Romaro Gill #35 and Tyrese Samuel #4 of the Seton Hall Pirates for a rebound during the second half of a college basketball game at Prudential Center on January 22, 2020 in Newark, New Jersey. Seton Hall defeated Providence 73-64. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
NEWARK, NJ - JANUARY 22: Alpha Diallo #11 of the Providence Friars battles Romaro Gill #35 and Tyrese Samuel #4 of the Seton Hall Pirates for a rebound during the second half of a college basketball game at Prudential Center on January 22, 2020 in Newark, New Jersey. Seton Hall defeated Providence 73-64. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /
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VILLANOVA, PA – JANUARY 21: Nze of the Bulldogs dribbles. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
VILLANOVA, PA – JANUARY 21: Nze of the Bulldogs dribbles. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /

472. . . . Butler Bulldogs. 3. player

Butler has lost three straight games and is falling in essentially all rankings (both metric and human). With that said, though, the Dawgs’ road to 3-3 in Big East play has been extremely difficult with four of their first six conference games coming on the road. As a result, Butler is not in a bad place in the grand scheme of things. The Dawgs are already a respectable 2-2 on the road in the Big East with their lone home loss coming to a Top 10 team in the country. There isn’t too much to complain about there.

Considering this, the Dawgs just need to find a way to get back on track and opportunities approach to allow that to happen as they will play five of their next seven games at home. This includes an upcoming matchup with Marquette in Hinkle Fieldhouse on Jan. 24th. Butler appears to be a lock for the NCAA Tournament but the team does need to regain its prior form and defending its home-court against the Golden Eagles would be a great place to start.

Most importantly, Sean McDermott needs to find his rhythm from 3-point range. The sharpshooting senior wing has really struggled since the beginning of conference play and that has greatly affected the Dawgs’ effectiveness offensively. After shooting nearly 50% from 3-point range in the non-conference portion of the schedule, he is just 9-for-36 in the BE season. He is too good of a shooter to stay down for long, though.

Additionally, Butler has been killed in the FTA disparity as of late. The Dawgs are sending their opponents to the foul line at an absurdly high rate and are not shooting enough themselves. That absolutely needs to be remedied. Butler’s defense is holding teams to .446 eFG% and almost never allows offensive rebounds. Fixing the fouling issue will go a long way for this team.

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