The Southeast Missouri State Redhawks and the Butler Bulldogs meet Friday in college basketball action from Hinkle Fieldhouse. Southeast Missouri State is 0-1 so far following a loss to Grand Canyon on Monday. As for Butler, they rolled to a blowout win at home versus Eastern Michigan in their opener. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

Southeast Missouri State Redhawks 

Last season can be considered a success for Southeast Missouri State. The Redhawks  went 19-17 overall and 10-8 in the Ohio Valley Conference for a fifth-place finish, but stormed through the conference tournament to earn a berth in the national tournament. Southeast Missouri State was beaten by Texas A&M-CC in the First Four, however. 

Moving on to the 2023-24 season, the Redhawks had a rough game against Grand Canyon in their opener. Southeast Missouri State fell behind 54-30 at the half and ended up losing 88-67. Adam Larson (13 points; five rebounds) and Josh Earley (10 points; one rebound) were the only players to finish in double-digits. 

Butler Bulldogs 

Over on the Butler side, they had another down year in 2022-23, going just 14-18 overall with a 6-14 run in Big East play. With that effort, the Bulldogs finished ahead of only DePaul and Georgetown in the standings. Butler’s tournament run was over quickly following an opener loss to St. John’s 76-63. 

Butler got off to a pretty good start this year with a convincing win versus Central Michigan on Monday. The Bulldogs scored a modest 34 points in the first half, but followed that up with a 60-point run in a 94-55 win. Jahmyl Telfort was the team’s leading scorer on 18 points and four rebounds. Pierre Brooks added 16 points, and four other players scored 13 points each. 

ANDREW’S FREE PICK 

I’ll probably stay with Butler. The Bulldogs opened up with a great effort at home versus Eastern Michigan this week, shooting 57-1 percent from the field and 84.2 percent (16-of-19) from the line with 38 rebounds and 20 assists. Butler held the Eagles to just 32.2 percent shooting on the other side in a well-rounded outing. 

As for Southeast Missouri State, they gave up 50.0 percent from the field and were out-rebounded 48-32 in their blowout loss to Grand Canyon on Monday. Things aren’t going to get any easier here. Butler should have plenty of second-chance opportunities with a decent rebounding effort in this one.