Bulldogs battle Golden Eagles in Big East action

Feb 25, 2015 - 3:36 PM Indianapolis, IN (SportsNetwork.com) - With just four contests remaining on their regular season slate, the 23rd-ranked Butler Bulldogs will welcome the Marquette Golden Eagles to Hinkle Fieldhouse Wednesday for a Big East Conference clash.

Butler still retains its Top-25 distinction despite having lost two of its last three games, which includes a 73-56 thumping at the hands of Xavier on Saturday. The two losses have dropped the Bulldogs back to 9-5 against Big East competition, although Butler does own a 12-2 mark at home.

Marquette heads to Indianapolis hoping to end a three-game losing streak. The Golden Eagles were downed for the third time in as many outings on Saturday when the team took on Villanova, 87-76. Marquette is a paltry 3-11 against league foes, and is just 1-7 in road contests this season.

The series between Marquette and Butler is now all knotted up at 16 games apiece, thanks to a Bulldogs win, 72-68, in overtime back on Jan. 31 in Milwaukee. Butler rallied from an eight-point deficit to force the extra session and earn the win.

Both Marquette and Villanova made 13 field goal attempts in the first half of Saturday's clash in Milwaukee, but the Wildcats were able to take a nine-point lead at halftime after hitting two more 3-point jumpers and connecting on seven more free-throw tries. Both teams finished the game shooting above 45 percent from the floor, but the lead Villanova gained at halftime was enough for the Wildcats to coast to victory. There was no Matt Carlino for Marquette, who sat out due to a concussion. Jajuan Johnson took over the role of go-to scorer for the Golden Eagles, netting 20 points with five assists. Luke Fischer tallied 17 points before fouling out, Duane Wilson added 15 and Derrick Wilson chipped in with 10 points and eight assists in the loss.

Carlino, the BYU transfer who leads Marquette in scoring this season with 14.5 ppg, will be out of the lineup again on Wednesday. That means Duane Wilson is the team's active leading scorer at 12.4 ppg. He's followed by Fischer and his 10.4 ppg mark. Juan Anderson tops the squad with a 6.5 rpg average, and Derrick Wilson's 111 assists are the most on the team. Marquette as a unit is averaging 66.5 ppg on 43.9 percent shooting, but is also giving up 66.9 to opponents through the team's 26 games.

Xavier jumped out to an early lead over Butler on Saturday in Cincinnati and never looked back. The Musketeers held the Bulldogs to just 24.1 percent shooting in the first half, which allowed them to take a 33-22 advantage into the intermission. Butler finished the game shooting 35.1 percent from the floor, which included a 5-of-16 mark from 3-point distance. Roosevelt Jones scored 14 points to pace the squad, hitting 5-of-12 shots from the floor. Alex Barlow managed 10 points for Butler, and was the only other Bulldogs player in double-figure scoring. Kameron Woods brought down a team-best nine rebounds, and Kellen Dunham added nine points in the defeat.

Dunham's below-average effort on Saturday on the offensive end dropped him to 16.6 ppg, which went from third in the Big East Conference rankings to fourth. He's followed by Jones in the scoring department at 13.0 ppg, though Jones leads the squad with 3.6 apg and ranks second on the team in rebounding (5.4 rpg) behind Woods's 9.6 boards per outing (ranked second in the Big East). Andrew Chrabascz (11.1 ppg) remains out with a broken right hand, which means the Bulldogs, who average 70.5 ppg this season as a unit, will miss their sophomore forward for a third straight game. Butler's defensive unit is doing a solid job of holding opponents to 61.6 ppg this season - second in the conference behind Villanova.