Butler 'bout to steal our thunder

[MomofMUltiples]

Up 5 on Nova with 33 seconds left

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Gonna be on a mission now, look out...

[naginiF]

I just was looking up the last time Nova lost 2 in a row.......last 2 games of the 2012-2013 season to Louisville then UNC.

There is little chance we'll get the sad punch drunk Nova.....they're gonna be pissed

[tower912]

Ass kicking coming on Saturday.  Damn.

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

I am going to pretend that this matters too.

[RideMyBuycks]

Nice 2 point underdog court storming there, Butler

[muguru]

Yep...pissed off Butler won. Had Nova won, I really liked MU's chances of getting a win Saturday..21 game winning streak(law of averages eventually catches up), MU with a week off, Nova a couple days rest, DePaul almost won at the Pavilion(and MU's game isn't at the pavilion). Now...not a freaking chance in hell MU wins that game. F you Butler.

[Lennys Tap]

But TAMU told me Butler wasn't any good! (just kidding)

[4everwarriors]

Scary flights will do dat ta ya, hey?

[MU82]

If it was as easy as just wanting to win, Nova would have won today, no?

[jesmu84]

http://www.muscoop.com/index.php?topic=52981.0

[geps]

Guessin' line is 11 Saturday.

[Golden Avalanche]

But TAMU told me Butler wasn't any good! (just kidding)

Did he change his name to something like "PFWarrior" for a few days?

That member repeatedly told me Butler wasn't any good and would soon fall back to middle of the pack the night they lost to the Johnnies.

Curious if the thought remains for that individual after this result.

[muguru]

Did he change his name to something like "PFWarrior" for a few days?

That member repeatedly told me Butler wasn't any good and would soon fall back to middle of the pack the night they lost to the Johnnies.

Curious if the thought remains for that individual after this result.

Well, it wasn't me, but to be fair...how good is Butler?? I mean they lost road games to Indiana state and SJU. Just sayin

[TSmith34, Inc.]

Ass kicking coming on Saturday.  Damn.

I don't know.  Sure, we'll beat them, but we may not kick their asses. 

[Tugg Speedman]

Gonna be on a mission now, look out...

I just was looking up the last time Nova lost 2 in a row.......last 2 games of the 2012-2013 season to Louisville then UNC.

There is little chance we'll get the sad punch drunk Nova.....they're gonna be pissed

Yep...pissed off Butler won. Had Nova won, I really liked MU's chances of getting a win Saturday..21 game winning streak(law of averages eventually catches up), MU with a week off, Nova a couple days rest, DePaul almost won at the Pavilion(and MU's game isn't at the pavilion). Now...not a freaking chance in hell MU wins that game. F you Butler.

I guess you guys and the rest are not really paying attention.  Because Nova is going through a bad stretch now, barely beating Depaul, looking uninspired against Creighton and now losing to Butler.

So try this, they are not playing well right now.  They will still be #1 on Saturday.  This is our chance as we are playing them at the right moment!

[Loose Cannon]

In the Words of Lady Violet " Don't be Such a Defeatist, it's So Middle Class".

[naginiF]

I guess you guys and the rest are not really paying attention.  Because Nova is going through a bad stretch now, barely beating Depaul, looking uninspired against Creighton and now losing to Butler.

So try this, they are not playing well right now.  They will still be #1 on Saturday.  This is our chance as we are playing them at the right moment!

I hope you are right on the bolded part - happy to be wrong and i still think we play well.

What i saw in the last 10 of the Creighton game was not an uninspired team - but different POVs..

[Zephyr820]

Butler is currently rated 16th in the Pomeroy Ratings with now three top 10 wins.  They have one of the best resumes in the country.  They are great

[forgetful]

Ass kicking coming on Saturday.  Damn.

My thought too.

[GoldenZebra]

Yikes. Its gonna be a beatdown this weekend...

[rocky_warrior]

Yikes. Its gonna be a beatdown this weekend...

You folks get too caught up in this. It is, and was likely a beatdown regardless.  Nova didn't win 20 games in a row spanning two seasons for nothing.  They did it precisely because haven't overlooked a team in that span. 

Do they still have bad games and good games?  Yes.  It's just that they generally still had the talent to win even during "bad" games.  So, Marquette has the same chance they had this morning.  Very little.

But, if we can coax Nova into a bad game, and MU has a good game, there's still a 10% chance we win ... or so.

[Marcus92]

The Wildcats are scary good again this year. But they do have weaknesses to exploit.

Tempo
Villanova's adjusted tempo is 320th in the country. That could play to our strength if we're able to push the pace. That'll be a tall order, since Nova is rated 23rd for protecting the ball. On the other hand, DePaul and Creighton were able to force the Wildcats into 14 and 15 turnovers, respectively.

I didn't see the Butler game, but they seemed to do just the opposite: grind it out at an even slower pace and make it a defensive slog. I'd guess that Butler's home court environment played a role, as well.

Offensive rebounding
Below average, ranked 218th. I'm not sure how this helps Marquette, other than maybe being able to get an extra runout or two on long defensive rebounds.

2-point FG defense
Also not very good — just 235th out of 351 Division I teams. Driving to the basket and making open mid-range jumpers could be a key for MU. The Wildcats are ranked 4th in 3-point FG% defense, so that's strength against strength.

Depth
Nova is ranked 332nd for bench minutes. They played just 7 against Butler. Fatigue could be a factor — especially in a faster-paced game.

[Eye]

Pomeroy has nova 82-70 and MU with a 14 percent chance of winning.

[Warriors10]

C'mon now...this was obviously a trap game for 'Nova