Butler looked every bit a Big East title contender on Friday night in a game that gained a little luster in the last week or so. Their 70-58 win at Providence gives them their fourth 15-1 start in school history and was as impressive as a lot of details might make it seem.
Providence can be a tough place for visiting teams to play when there’s a good crowd, and a sellout crowd gathered at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center for this one. It was a matchup of two teams that entered the night without a Big East loss in the early going, the Bulldogs doing so after a great non-conference run while the Friars underachieved but may be hitting their stride at a good time.
This game provided the Friars an opportunity for a real signature win, but they never got going offensively and the Bulldogs carried it over to the other end. Butler shot 55.6 percent from the field and out-rebounded Providence 44-26, and they shot 50 percent from deep in part because they had good selection and took just 12 on the evening. They didn’t need more.
At every turn, Butler was the better team, save perhaps for taking care of the ball as they gave it away 17 times. They shut the Friars down with their defense and also took advantage of the Friars missing some of the few good looks they got, as Providence shot less than 32 percent from the field including 6-25 from deep. They generally handled the Friars’ press in that they never really got sped up, plus they got a few easy baskets. The Friars couldn’t turn the press into one turnover and easy basket after another. On a few occasions, the Bulldogs had several players up ahead of the Friars to the point where someone was there to clean up a miss without a Friar anywhere near him.
The Bulldogs had four players score in double figures, but perhaps none was as big as Jordan Tucker. The Duke transfer came off the bench to score 17 points, matching Kamar Baldwin for team-high honors, on 7-11 shooting to go with six rebounds. More than that, though, he seemed to be in a lot of plays and at crucial junctures. That helped them win this one with second-leading scorer Sean McDermott scoring nine points on 2-6 shooting, though he also grabbed five rebounds and found other ways to be a factor.
Certainly, Butler has had the better season by a good margin, but Providence had come alive of late and was coming off two one-point road wins after beating Georgetown in the Big East opener. If this game was in Hinkle Fieldhouse, there is less room to see it as a chance for the Friars to get a big win. Give Butler credit for defending them as well as they did, refusing to be sped up, and being a step faster at every turn, then translating all of that into a complete and convincing road win.
Side Dishes
The Big Ten gets more interesting by the day. Maryland took a three-game winning streak into Iowa City and left with a 67-49 loss to Iowa in a game where neither team shot the ball well or took good care of the ball in combining for 35 turnovers. Iowa shot it a little better as Maryland was just 4-22 from long range, and Iowa also had a 44-32 rebounding edge. The Hawkeyes didn’t exactly jump out early, trailing 15-10 before scoring the next 14 points and never looking back from there, going up by 14 at the break. Two Hawkeyes had 20-10 games as Joe Wieskamp had 26 points and 11 rebounds and Luka Garza added 21 and 13. The Hawkeyes were down to eight scholarship players.
For the second year in a row, Princeton swept their rivalry series to start Ivy League play as they topped Penn 63-56 at Jadwin Gym after winning at the Palestra last week. The Tigers were 11-26 from long range and out-rebounded the Quakers 37-31 to overcome three more turnovers and a 22-point, 13-rebound outing from Penn star A.J. Brodeur. Naturally, this also puts Penn, one of the preseason favorites in the league, in an 0-2 hole before the Friday-Saturday weekends get going in the league later this month.
Other results of note: Wright State moved to 5-0 in the Horizon League with an 84-70 win at IUPUI behind 26 points from Bill Wampler; Quinnipiac moved to 3-0 in the MAAC by taking care of visiting Niagara 67-56; and Iona showed some life by going on the road and beating Rider 69-66 for their first MAAC win of the season.
Tonight’s Menu
It’s Saturday, which means wire-to-wire college basketball and a number of important matchups.
- The ACC slate starts with Louisville going to Notre Dame and NC State going to Virginia Tech (2 p.m.), then Virginia hosts Syracuse (4 p.m.) and the one we’re all watching, which is Clemson visiting North Carolina, where they have never won but might not get as good a chance as this for a long time (4:30 p.m.)
- In the American Athletic Conference, Cincinnati hits the road to visit a UCF team that is looking for its first conference win, while Temple gets a visit from Tulane, both with a noon tip.
- In the Atlantic 10, Richmond is the city to be in as VCU hosts Rhode Island (2 p.m.), then Richmond hosts Saint Louis (6 p.m.) in the two best games from there on the slate.
- A full slate of Big 12 action starts with a great one as Baylor visits Kansas (1 p.m.), then Oklahoma State tries to get going as they visit TCU (2 p.m.), Texas Tech visits West Virginia in what should be the rock fight of all rock fights (6 p.m.) and the day closes out with Oklahoma at Iowa State and a matchup of 0-2 teams with Kansas State at Texas (8 p.m.)
- The Big East slate starts off with Georgetown’s visit to Villanova and a matchup of two teams needing a win to get going as St. John’s hosts DePaul (noon), then Creighton travels to Xavier (2 p.m.) and Seton Hall hosts Marquette (4 p.m.)
- The Big Ten has a couple of good ones right off the bat as Ohio State goes to Indiana trying to snap a three-game losing streak and Illinois hosts Rutgers (noon), then Penn State hosts Wisconsin (2:15 p.m.)
- There will only be one CAA team with an unblemished conference mark after today as College of Charleston takes their 5-0 record to William & Mary, who is 4-0 (2 p.m.)
- A good one is on tap as part of a full Missouri Valley slate as Missouri State hosts Northern Iowa (4 p.m.)
- Mountain West action is highlighted by Nevada visiting Utah State (8 p.m.) and San Diego State trying to stay undefeated as they host Boise State (10 p.m.)
- A good Ohio Valley Conference matchup to watch is Austin Peay visiting Jacksonville State (5 p.m.)
- The Pac-12 slate is highlighted by cross-town rivals meeting with UCLA hosting USC (10 p.m.) and Oregon hosting Arizona State (10:30 p.m.)
- In the SEC, Auburn’s bid to stay undefeated comes right away as they host Georgia at noon, the same time Alabama at Kentucky tips. A little later, South Carolina goes to Tennessee (1 p.m.), Arkansas travels to Ole Miss (6 p.m.) and LSU hosts Mississippi State (8 p.m.)
- A good one in the Southern Conference tips off in the evening as Furman hosts UNC Greensboro (7 p.m.)
- In the Sun Belt, preseason favorite South Alabama appears to be getting on track, and now they have a good test as they head to 5-1 Little Rock (5:30 p.m.)
