Big East action pits Bulldogs against Hoyas

Indianapolis, IN (SportsNetwork.com) – Big East Conference foes converge at the Hinkle Fieldhouse on Tuesday, as the Georgetown Hoyas make the trip to face the 21st-ranked Butler Bulldogs.

Georgetown saw a three-game win streak come to an end on Saturday as the Hoyas dropped an 81-70 contest to St. John’s in New York. The Hoyas are now 10-6 in conference play, and are looking to pad their resume with two games left in the regular-season schedule.

Butler has won two games in a row since a blowout loss to Xavier a couple of weekends ago. The Bulldogs have taken down Marquette (73-52) and DePaul (67-53) in consecutive games to improve to 10-5 against Big East competition. Butler is a healthy 13-2 when playing at home this season.

In four games played between Georgetown and Butler, the Bulldogs have yet to beat the Hoyas. Georgetown is 4-0 against Butler in the all-time series, which was extended back in January as the Hoyas took a 61-59 victory in Washington, D.C.

Against St. John’s on Saturday, a singularly strong performance wasn’t enough to keep the Hoyas in the contest. D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera scored 29 points and grabbed seven rebounds, connecting on 10-of-21 shooting from the floor with a 7-of-14 mark from 3-point distance in the loss. Mikael Hopkins did come off the bench to contribute a 10-point, 14-rebound double-double, but the Hoyas ended up shooting just 37.9 percent from the floor in the loss, while the Red Storm got double-digit scoring contributions from four different players.

Smith-Rivera is certainly one of the most important players for the Hoyas this season, and he’s proven to be one of the top scorers in the entire conference. His 16.0 ppg ranks fifth in the league. The senior guard is also averaging 3.3 apg and has notched 45 steals to pace the squad. Joshua Smith is the only other Georgetown player to average a double-digit scoring figure this season at 11.3 ppg, though the big man does own a team-best 6.2 rpg mark. As a unit, Georgetown is netting 71.7 ppg on a healthy 45.7 percent shooting from the floor. On the defensive end, the Hoyas are allowing 65.3 ppg to opponents, who are connecting on 39.8 percent of their attempts.

Butler was able to gain an advantage over DePaul at halftime, 29-24, but the second half is when the Bulldogs did most of their damage offensively. Butler connected on 52.6 percent of its tries from the floor in the frame, and was able to pull well ahead of the host Blue Demons. Kellen Dunham netted 24 points to lead the charge, while Roosevelt Jones added 16 points, five rebounds and four assists. Kameron Woods chipped in with 14 points and six rebounds.

Dunham continues to impress this season and lead the charge for the Bulldogs as they prepare for yet another postseason run. The senior is leading the team in scoring with 17.0 ppg, which ranks third in the conference. Dunham is hitting on 45.2 percent of his shots from the floor, and 43.5 percent from 3- point range. He’s followed by Jones in the scoring category, as the junior forward is netting 13.0 ppg on 43.3 percent shooting. Jones leads the team with 3.7 apg, and ranks second on the squad in rebounding at 5.4 rpg, behind the team leader Woods, who brings down 9.3 boards per outing. Woods is second in the Big East on the glass behind Seton Hall’s Angelo Delgado. Butler is netting 70.4 ppg, and is surrendering 60.9 ppg (first in the Big East) to opponents.

Categorized in: NCAA Basketball