Butler faces Xavier in Big East tourney

Published Mar. 9, 2021 6:45 a.m. ET

Associated Press

No. 10 seed Butler (9-14, 8-12) vs. No. 7 seed Xavier (13-7, 6-7)

Big East Conference Tourney First Round, Madison Square Garden, New York; Wednesday, 6 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Butler and Xavier are set to do battle in the first round of the Big East tournament. Xavier swept the two-game regular season series. The teams last played each other on Feb. 21, when the Musketeers shot 43.6 percent from the field while holding Butler to just 29.5 percent on the way to a 63-51 victory.

SUPER SENIORS: Xavier's Paul Scruggs, Nate Johnson and Jason Carter have combined to score 38 percent of all Musketeers points this season, though that trio's production has fallen to 26 percent over the last five games.

CREATING OFFENSE: Chuck Harris has either made or assisted on 49 percent of all Butler field goals over the last three games. The freshman guard has accounted for 23 field goals and 13 assists in those games.

SCORING THRESHOLDS: Butler is 0-9 when its offense scores 60 points or fewer. Xavier is a perfect 6-0 when it holds opponents to 61 or fewer points.

ASSIST-TO-FG RATIO: The Musketeers have recently used assists to create baskets more often than the Bulldogs. Xavier has an assist on 47 of 77 field goals (61 percent) over its previous three contests while Butler has assists on 35 of 74 field goals (47.3 percent) during its past three games.

TOUGH DEFENSE: Xavier has held opposing teams to only 41.2 percent shooting, the lowest percentage among all Big East teams.

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