All Betting Previews
(12) UTEP Miners vs. (5) Butler Bulldogs
How hot is too hot? Some feel that when a team goes on a long winning streak to head into postseason play that they forget how to play with adversity. That if something goes wrong, it could go south quickly. So that may be a concern as the Butler Bulldogs prepare for their NCAA tournament appearance while putting its 20-game winning streak on the line. Their other concerns? Going up against a team that is likely angry about its 16-game winning streak being snapped and the fact that they are the dreaded fifth seed, which almost always yields at least one upset during tournament play to the 12th seed. The Bulldogs will face the Texas El Paso Miners on Thursday afternoon.
LAST 10
UTEP 9-1, Butler 10-0
TEAM SCOPE
UTEP: The Miners won their first Conference USA regular season title by rolling through the final 14 games of the season by winning them all, but then saw the momentum and energy snuffed out when they lost to the Houston Cougars in an upset in the conference championship game. UTEP is making its first tournament appearance in five years and is looking for its first victory since reaching the Sweet 16 in 1992.
Butler: No conference tournament could stop the Bulldogs momentum unlike their opponents on Thursday. Butler forged through the tournament like they had all season long in the Horizon League and finished undefeated in the conference in both regular and postseason play. When the Bulldogs take the court on Thursday, it will be 86 days since their last defeat, 67-57 to UAB on December 22.
WHO’S HOT
Matt Howard missed out on a double-double in his last game, scoring 14 points and nine assists to lead Butler to its 20th straight victory. Randy Culpepper has scored 22 and 20 points for the Miners in his last two games.
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