Thoughts on Butler vs. NU

I got some last minute tickets to the NU vs. Butler game and decided to go see them play.  Butler is currently ranked 10th in the ESPN/USA today poll and 11th in the AP. Here are some thoughts from the game.  Another quick note is that NU is missing Kevin Coble (foot) and Jeff Ryan (ACL). Both Ryan and Coble's injuries are season ending.

Butler:

For where Butler is ranked, they did not play like it. Northwestern playing without Coble and Ryan were able to stay in the game for most of the first half and early into the second.   Northwestern hung with Butler before Butler went on a 12-0 run in the second half to put it away.

Horizon league ore-season player of the year Matt Howard did not play particularly well. Howard finished the game  4-8 with  9 points. Howard looked a little off tonight  but expect him to pick it up the rest of the year. Gordon Heyward, one of my favorite players, and Shelvin Mack picked up slack with 14 and 15 respectively.

Butler attacked Northwestern's 1-3-1 by having their guards drive and kick the ball out into the corner for wide open three point shots. Avery Jukes and Zach Hahn were a combined 5-7 from downtown, all of which I believe came from the corner. Depending on who is in the game, Butler will have five guys who can shoot the three.

Jukes and Hahn seem to lead what is a deep Butler bench. Nine guys got at least 10 minutes tonight, which should help them long term. They did not seem to skip a beat when Shawn Vanzant left the game after playing only sixteen minutes after getting poked in the eye.

One other thing to look for is Butler's poor free throw shooting. They shot 72% as a team last year, but were 8-16 tonight from the stripe. Not sure if this will be a trend, but it could lose them some games if the poor free throw shooting continues.

Butler winning the Horizon league should not be an issue. Cleveland St. has been tough for them the past couple of seasons, but Wright St. was picked to finish second in the conference.

Northwestern:

This is a team that is going to struggle with out Kevin Coble and Jeff Ryan. NU had 16 turnovers and with an offense that is going to struggle to score, that is way too much.

If NU has any success, John Shurna and Luka Mirkovic will have to step up. Shurna is tough and can post up certain guards. Mirkovic is NU's only inside presence. Kyle Rowley is soft  and needs some post moves.Jeremy Nash is an athletic player with no jump shot. For Nash to be successful, it will most likely be on the defensive end and driving to the hoop. Juice Thompson will have to control this offense and not turn the ball over so much.

If NU upsets teams, it will be because they have slowed the game down and are hitting their three pointers. It did neither of those things tonight. NU was 30% from downtown today and seemed to play a lot faster then they wanted to. Low scoring games will be NU's friend this year.

NU will probably finish last in the Big 10. I did not see how they will win many games this year.

-Mike Moreau