Butler Basketball: Keys to success at Marquette in 2019-20

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - JANUARY 24: Head coach LaVall Jordan of the Butler Bulldogs celebrates in the second half of a game against the Marquette Golden Eagles at Hinkle Fieldhouse on January 24, 2020 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Butler defeated Marquette 89-85 in overtime. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

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INDIANAPOLIS, IN – JANUARY 24: Baldwin of the Bulldogs defends. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

1. Defend the perimeter.

It’s no secret that Marquette is one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the country. Most notably, star senior guard Markus Howard will go down as one of the most prolific perimeter threats in college basketball history. He has been a flat-out star since the beginning of his career in Milwaukee and it is impossible to have anything but respect for what he has been able to do as a scorer over the past few seasons.

Howard consistently receives a ton of defensive attention and yet is still averaging a nation-leading 27.9 points per game while shooting 39.6% from three. He is incredibly deadly and has the ability to erupt on any given night for 40+ points. Howard scored 27 points a couple of weeks ago against Butler but was limited to just 8-for-27 from the floor in that game while committing five turnovers.

Butler was playing without National Defensive Player of the Year candidate Aaron Thompson in that game and the team’s gameplan was to completely sell out on stopping Howard. That worked but Marquette’s supporting cast sent that game to overtime with its extremely strong scoring.

Sacar Anim, Koby McEwen, and Brendan Bailey are all very legitimate perimeter shooting threats and Butler will need to find a way to limit all three of them (in addition to Howard). It was quite lucky that the Dawgs were able to survive at home against the Golden Eagles a couple of weeks ago despite allowing those three to shoot 11-for-19 from beyond the arc.

It is important to mention that Butler’s perimeter defense should be better in this game with Thompson back on the floor. The Dawgs can stick Baddley/Thompson on Marquette’s elite guards in hopes of slowing down their 3-point looks. AT’s leadership on the defensive end is also very important.