Butler looks to snap their four-game win streak as they host a red hot UConn team in Hinkle Fieldhouse. Can the Bulldogs find a way to get back on track against the Huskies?
TV schedule: Saturday, December 21st, 12:00 pm ET. Peacock
Arena: Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana
The past two weeks have been rough for the Butler Bulldogs, who have dropped four straight after a 7-1 start to the season. Despite picking up solid wins over Mississippi State, SMU, and Northwestern, Butler has faltered as of late, dropping their second buy game of the year to North Dakota State in addition to losses against Houston, Wisconsin, and Marquette. Butler will be missing one of their key rotation players in Augusto Cassia, who is out indefinitely with a knee injury.
And the uphill battle doesn't get any easier for Butler, as they will play host to no. 11 UConn, a team which Butler is winless against all-time. Butler dropped their Big East opener to Marquette on Wednesday and have an extremely tough schedule to start conference play, which includes road games at Marquette, St. John's, and Providence in addition to their home game versus UConn.
Butler's high scoring duo of Pierre Brooks and Jahmyl Telfort are talented enough to keep them in almost any game, and Patrick McCaffery is also averaging double figures along with the two. While most of the other pieces alongside these three have shown potential at times this year, most have been rather inconsistent this year, and they'll need several of these pieces to step up and have a big game against this talented UConn team.
UConn has once again looked a lot like the UConn of the past two years after their poor showing in Maui. The Huskies have since picked up wins over Baylor, Gonzaga, and Texas and defeated Xavier in overtime to open Big East play on Wednesday. This will not be the Huskies' first true road test of the year, they already played (and won) a true road game at Texas, and they will be looking to extend their five game winning streak to six with a win at Butler.
The Huskies have talent across the board with pieces such as Alex Karaban, Solo Ball, Terris Reed Jr, Hassan Diarra, and freshman Liam McNeeley. Many of the Huskies' top players are returners from last year's national championship team, while some, including Reed and McNeeley, are in their first season with the Huskies. McNeeley has looked extremely impressive for a freshman so far, highlighted by a 26 point outing in UConn's recent win over Gonzaga. With all this talent, the Huskies once again look like a team capable of contending for a national championship.
Despite a pair of bad losses in non-conference play, Butler has shown at times this year that they have NCAA tournament potential. To say Butler needs this win is an understatement, as it would not only provide a crucial signature win to keep themselves on the NCAA Tournament Bubble, but also to gain some momentum before their 11 day holiday break.
Hinkle Fieldhouse has proven to be a tough place for opposing teams to play at, and despite Butler's recent skid the building will likely be rocking as the Huskies come to town. That being said, UConn is still a tough matchup for any team, and while Butler came close to upsetting UConn in Hinkle last year, they ultimately fell short. If Butler can get hot from the three point line and sustain that for a large portion of the game, the upset potential is there. However, the Huskies have been rolling as of late and have all the momentum, and while this game could be pretty close, UConn should ultimately leave Hinkle with their sixth straight win.