The Butler Bulldogs and the Seton Hall Pirates meet Saturday in college basketball action from Prudential Center. Butler is 10-6 on the year so far. The Bulldogs beat DePaul in their last game. As for Seton Hall, they’re currently 8-8 after a blowout loss to Creighton on Tuesday. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Butler managed to go 7-3 over their first 10 games this year. The losses in that time came versus Penn State, Tennessee and NC State. The Bulldogs have since gone 3-3 with wins over California, Georgetown and DePaul.
In the DePaul game on Wednesday, the Bulldogs took a 34-25 edge into the break. Butler kept the pace with another 44 points in the second and won it 78-70. Eric Hunter topped the scoring on 23 points and five rebounds.
Over on the Seton Hall side, they were 6-4 through 10 games, falling to Iowa, Oklahoma, Siena and Kansas. The Pirates are 2-4 in their last six games with losses to Providence, Xavier, Marquette and Creighton.
Matched up against Creighton on Tuesday, the Pirates were drilled 43-22 in the first half. Seton Hall scored 39 points in the second half and didn’t get closer in an 83-61 loss. Femi Odukale led the way on 16 points.
PICK: I’m going to stay with Butler. The Bulldogs put up a solid effort against a mediocre DePaul team in their last outing, shooting 45.3 percent from the floor with a 34-28 rebounding advantage and just eight turnovers. Butler recently had a three-game losing streak where they got destroyed by UConn, Creighton and Providence, but the Bulldogs are looking better over their last pair. As for Seton Hall, I like them to bounce back from the Creighton game and put up a solid showing in this one. Butler seems more reasonable for a cover option here, though. Should be a fun game to check out.