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Butler Bulldogs at Georgetown Hoyas Betting Preview

The Big East will take the college basketball spotlight on Tuesday night, with the No. 16 Butler Bulldogs visiting the Georgetown Hoyas. At home, the Hoyas are 1.5-point favorites with an over/under of 141.5 points.

Just a couple of weeks ago, the Bulldogs were a top five team before a three-game losing streak caused them to tumble. Fortunately for Butler, it was able to snap that losing skid with a dramatic overtime win over Marquette on Friday.

Despite the recent losses, the Bulldogs are still 16-4 on the season and have a chance to compete for the Big East title if they can get back on track quickly.

As for the Hoyas, they are sitting near the bottom of the Big East standings. Georgetown is just 2-5 since the start of conference play, putting it at 12-8 overall. The good news is that one of those wins came against a ranked Creighton team, so the Hoyas have some potential.

However, Georgetown doesn’t have much time to turn things around if it wants to make a run at the postseason.

Short-Handed

Midseason player departures have left the Hoyas somewhat short-handed since early December. James Akinjo, the team’s third-leading scorer early in the season, was a huge loss for Georgetown to suffer.

The Hoyas play no more than seven or eight players in most games, so depth is an issue as it relates to foul trouble. Georgetown also doesn’t have much margin for error if one or two key players have an off night.

Two guys that have to show up every game for the Hoyas are Mac McClung and Omer Yurtseven. Both are averaging 16 points per game, with McClung doing most of his damage as a jump shooter and Yurtseven giving Georgetown an inside presence.

But the Hoyas still need supporting players like Jamorko Pickett, Japan Bosely, and Jahvon Blair to contribute if they’re going to beat good teams.

D-Up

Butler’s biggest key to success this season has been its defense. The Bulldogs are among the top 10 teams in the country defensively, allowing less than 60 points per game.

That hasn’t been the case recently, as Butler has conceded at least 76 points in four straight games. However, the Bulldogs remain a quality defensive team.

Offensively, on the other hand, Butler can be limited at times. Senior Kamar Baldwin is the team’s leading scorer with 16 points per game and is coming off a 31-point performance in the win over Marquette.

The Bulldogs also rely on Sean McDermott and Jordan Tucker to provide outside shooting, with both players shooting close to 40 percent from 3-point range. However, the Bulldogs average fewer than 70 points per game, so they don’t have much margin for error if their defense struggles.

Road Dogs

To their credit, Georgetown has been good at home this season. However, its path to victory remains narrow with just two consistent scorers. Against a strong defensive team like Butler, the Hoyas will need to be close to perfect. Bet on the Bulldogs to win as road underdogs.

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